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THE COUNTRY HOME 



THE 
COUNTRY HOME 



MONTH BY MONTH 



A Guide to Country Living 



BY 

EDWARD IRVING f ARRINGTON 

For seven years editor of "Suburban Life," Author of "The 

Home Poultry Book," Practical Garden Maker, 

Bee Keeper and Poultry Raiser, Etc. 

A daily reminder of duties to be performed, together 
with detailed and accurate directions for carrying 
out the various operations. All the activities 
of the country home and farm competently 
covered, with due regard for geograph- 
ical and climatic conditions. 



ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 



t 




CHICAGO 

LAIRD & LEE, Inc., PUBLISHERS 







Copyright igi^ 

By 

Laird & Lee, Inc. 



MAR 29 1915 

ICI.A397323 



),^ 



FOREWORD 



WITH painful recollections of the many occasions on 
which the author has remembered things to be done 
just too late to do them, this book has been written 
with an intent to help others in doing the right things at the 
right time. Duties crowd so hard in the country, especially 
in Spring and Summer, that many of them are inevitably over- 
looked, unless one has a working memorandum at his elbow. 
This volume is designed as a ready-made memorandum book 
for ready reference each month of the twelve. Yet it is more 
than merely a monthly reminder, for detailed and, let us trust, 
accurate directions for carrying out the more important opera- 
tions, are given. It is not claimed that the author has actually 
participated in all the activities described, for they cover a 
very wide range; yet much of the book is based on personal 
experience and the best authorities have been drawn upon 
for the rest, with due allowance for geographical and climatic 
conditions. Now, therefore, the book is sent on its way in the 
sincere hope that it will prove a reliable guide post to those who 
tread the pleasant paths of country living, and in the belief 

that, at least, it will not lead anyone astray. 

E. I. F. 

[v] 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

APPENDIX . 223 

JANUARY II 

Outdoor Work of the Month 13 

Greenhouse and Window Garden 15 

Stable and Livestock 16 

An Important Poultry Month 18 

FEBRUARY 25 

Midwinter Pruning 25 

Greenhouse and Window Garden 31 

Stable and Livestock 33 

In the Poultry Yard 35 

MARCH 43 

Greenhouse and Window Garden 49 

Outdoor Garden Work 50 

Stable and Livestock 56 

A Busy Month for the Poultryman 58 

APRII 65 

Around the Grounds 66 

In the Vegetable Garden 67 

In the Flower Garden 70 

Orchard and Fruit Garden 72 

Greenhouse and Window Garden ']'] 

April Poultry Work 79 

Livestock and Bees 84 

MAY 89 

In the Flower Garden 90 

The Vegetable Garden 94 

Livestock and Poultry 98 

The Month's Work with Bees loi 

[vi] 



CONTENTS vii 



PAGE 

JUNE 107 

Orchard and Small Fruits iii 

In the Flower Garden 114 

In the Vegetable Garden 115 

Livestock and Poultry 118 

Work with the Bees 120 

JULY 125 

Orchard and Fruit Garden 129 

In the Flower Garden 130 

Work in the Vegetable Garden 133 

Greenhouse and Window Garden 135 

Stable and Livestock 136 

In the Poultry Yard 139 

Work with the Bees 142 

AUGUST 147 

Orchard and Small Fruits 148 

Work in the Flower Garden 149 

In the Fruit Garden 152 

In the Vegetable Garden 152 

The Month's Work in the Greenhouse 154 

Livestock and Stable 155 

In the Poultry Yard 155 

SEPTEMBER " 163 

Table of Perennials 165 

In the Vegetable Garden 171 

Greenhouse and Window Garden 172 

General Farm Work 173 

Work in the Orchard 174 

Work in the South 175 

Stable and Livestock 175 

In the Poultry Yard 176 

In the Apiary 177 

OCTOBER 181 

Work in the Flower Garden 183 

Greenhouse and Window Garden 184 



viii CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Work in the Fruit Garden 185 

General Farm Work 187 

Stable and Livestock 188 

In the Poultry Yard 189 

Bee Work 192 

NOVEMBER 197 

Greenhouse and Window Garden 203 

Stable and Livestock 206 

In the Poultry Yard 207 

DECEMBER 211 

Greenhouse and Window Garden 213 

Livestock and Stable 217 

Poultry Work 219 



APPENDIX 

Experiment Stations 223 

Period of Gestation-Animals 224 

Incubation Period 224 

Standard Weights of Poultry 224 

Cornell Ration for Egg-Production 225 

Planting Tables for Flowers and Vegetables Op. 226 

Distance Table for Vegetables 226 

Plants Required to Set an Acre at Various Distances .... 226 

Seed Tables — Quantities to Acre 227 

Time Required for Garden Seeds to Germinate 228 

Weight and Size of Garden Seeds 228 

Maturity Table for Vegetables 229 

Analyses — Fruits and Fruit-Plants 229 

Analyses of Materials Used for Fertilizer 230 

Weights and Measures Used in the U. S 230 

Spraying Calendar . 232 



J AN U ART 

Piped a tiny voice hard by. 

Gay and polite, a cheerful cry, 

Chic-chic-a-dee-dee — 

Happy to meet you in these places. 

Where January brings new faces. 



THE COUNTRY HOME 



JANUARY 

JANUARY is the planning month, the catalogue month, the 
month for plotting the garden, sharpening the tools, making 
repairs, the month for reading a few good books on country 
living. There is no time for idling, even in January. It is 
undeniable, of course, that there is little work to do out of 
doors. Yet the evergreens must be kept free of snow and ice, 
in order that they may not break down. The stock must be 
given an airing and on warm days there are always little out- 
side jobs — suckers to clean off the apple trees, litter to burn, 
walks to clear, as much open-air exercise as a man needs to send 
the blood coursing through his veins. 

It is really important to make up the order for seeds and 
plants early. When the season is well advanced the seedsmen 
and nurseries will be swamped with business, there will be 
more delay and the likelihood of mistakes will be multiplied. 
It pays to make a diagram at the same time — not a little dia- 
gram in your notebook, but a large, workable diagram on a 
sheet of wrapping paper. Spread it on the floor, if you have 

[II] 



12 THE COUNTRY HOME 

to, but draw the diagram to scale. Then draw a line for each 
crop and write the name against it. Put berries, rhubarb and 
asparagus where they will be out of the way. Plot your corn 
and other tall vegetables so that they will not shade the low- 
growing kinds. Use a planting table and plan a succession of 
short season crops, in order that you may make the most of all 
the garden. To paraphrase a shopworn saying, the way to 
have a good garden is to mix system with your fertilizer. 

January is none too early to order hotbed sash. The 
cheapest plan is to buy unpainted and unglazed sash and to 
order the glass by the box, setting it yourself. Photographic 
plates which have been discarded may be used to advantage. 
The emulsion is easily removed with hot water and a putty 
knife. 

Although costing more, the double glass sash are certainly 
preferable to the more common kind, as no mats or shutters 
are needed, even in the dead of Winter. They are heavy, 
though, and it is well for women, at least, to order what are 
termed "pony" sash. They are just half the size of the regu- 
lation 3x6 sash and much easier to handle. 

Painting the garden tools is a piece of work which may 
well be undertaken in January. A red or white band around 
the handles of the smaller tools will make finding them much 
easier, if they are mislaid in the garden or dropped in the grass. 
Also, tools marked in this fashion are more certain to be re- 



JANUARY 1 3 



turned when borrowed. In some neighborhoods the borrowing 
habit becomes a nuisance, and good gardeners make it a point 
to place their initials on all their tools. It is easy to make a 
little tin stencil and to burn the letters into the wood with a 
hot poker. Another plan is to clean a small spot on the metal 
and cover it with wax, in which the initials are made with a 
nail, the letters then being filled with nitric acid. 

It pays to have racks or hooks for all the garden tools and to 
put them where they belong after they have been used. Many 
a weary search is avoided when this practice is adhered to. 

OUTDOOR WORK OF THE MONTH 

Grapes and other small fruits may be pruned this month 
in all parts of the country. Many amateurs neglect their grape- 
vines because they do not know just how to trim them. The 
advanced methods of the professional grower may not be 
adopted, but in order to get satisfactory results the vines 
should be cut back each season. Let it be remembered that 
grapes bear on wood of the present season, which grows from 
canes of the previous season. Each year several of the best 
canes should be selected and cut back to three eyes, the rest of 
the wood being cut away. The crop will be borne on canes 
from those eyes. 

When the vines are trained over an arbor or pergola, it is 
proper to let the main stalk or trunk grow until it reaches the 



14 THE COUNTRY HOME 

top, but the canes which shoot from it should be cut back to the 
three-eye limit each Winter. Then the vine will bear an abun- 
dance of fruit while also providing the desired shade. With a 
very little work, a number of grapevines may be kept in excel- 
lent bearing condition. The grape is a crop which the amateur 
may be practically sure of after the third year. 

Raspberries and blackberries bear on last year's wood and 
a good January job is cutting away the old canes. This not 
only opens up the plants, but also gets rid of insect pests and 
fungi which may have found lodgment on them. Three to six 
new canes should have been grown in each hill. 

Currants may also be trimmed this month, but it must be 
remembered that they bear mostly on wood which is two years 
old or older. After bearing a few years the old wood should be 
taken out, while two or three new shoots should be allowed to 
grow from the roots each season. Surplus shoots should also 
be removed. Gooseberries are to be trimmed in the same way. 

This is the best month for getting in the ice crop, as a rule. 
Even when there is no river, creek or pond convenient, it still is 
possible to harvest a considerable amount of ice. Plank molds 
24 inches long, 18 inches wide and a foot deep may be used, 
being filled with water when a cold snap comes on. 

When the water has frozen solid, the ice may be removed 
from the molds by turning the latter over and pouring hot 
water on them. 



JANUARY 15 



GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW GARDEN 

In the greenhouse, lettuce, radishes and spinach may be 
sown. They will be ready for the table in February. Seeds of 
Prizetaker onions for growing in the open ground may be 
started the latter part of the month. 

Greenhouse plants to start from seed this month include 
the begonias, asparagus plumosa, asparagus sprengeri, Gre- 
villea robusta, Dracaena and smilax. Bougainvillea plants 
may now be bought for forcing. They are extremely handsome 
and can be flowered in about two months. Gladioli bulbs may 
be forced in the greenhouse or the window garden. Forcing 
bulbs should be specified in the order. 

The Christmas poinsettia should be stored until May after 
it has finished flowering and should be allowed to remain per- 
fectly dr)^ A good place for it is under the bench or in a warm 
room. In May cuttings may be started for new plants. 

Hyacinths, tulips and other bulbs should be brought into 
heat in order to have a succession of blossoms in the house. 
Proserpine, Cottage Maid, Yellow Prince and La Reine are 
good tulips for starting early in the month. Other single varie- 
ties may be started the last week, but the double tulips can 
not be forced successfully until the latter part of February. 
Most of the other bulbs, except such as will be named later for 
Christmas forcing, may be started after the first of January. 



|6 THE COUNTRY HOME 

None of them should be brought into heat, however, until 
strong root growth has been made. 

STABLE AND LIVESTOCK 

It is important to keep the horses and cattle warm, but just 
as important to give them fresh air in plenty. In some 
instances muslin has been substituted for glass in a few of the 
windows and the results have been as satisfactory as when 
muslin has been used in the poultry house. In a cold barn, 
the cows may be blanketed. 

The cows should be turned out for an hour, even in cold 
weather, unless a storm is raging. Good care does not mean 
depriving them of exercise. This applies particularly to cows 
about to calve. 

Both cows and horses need an abundance of bedding. Bed- 
ding keeps them comfortable and keeps them clean. The cows 
require grooming as well as the horses. Both must have salt, 
also. There are devices on sale, by means of which a cake of 
salt may be attached to the side of the stall or manger and kept 
clean. 

It is important that the horse be sharp shod before he is 
taken out on icy roads. Neglect of this precaution may result 
in a bad accident or a lamed horse. 

It is humane to warm the bits by holding them in the hands 
a few moments before they are slipped into the horse's mouth. 



JANUARY 1 7 



Torture follows the touch of a moist tongue to a frosty bit. 
Any man is at liberty to try the experiment for himself. Rest- 
lessness on the part of a horse may be explained if his teeth are 
examined. 

When a horse comes in from a drive over muddy roads, the 
legs and hoofs should be carefully cleaned. If the horse is 
sweaty a light blanket should be thrown over the animal and 
left a short time to absorb the moisture. Then a heavier and 
warmer blanket may be substituted. 

An abundance of light in the barn is essential. Most 
animals respond to the influence of sunlight. A light barn, too, 
is more likely to be a clean barn than one that is shrouded in 
semi-darkness. A little whitewash will go a long way. 

All the manure should be saved with care. It is equivalent 
to cash. Plenty of bedding helps to conserve it and adds 
humus. Many good farmers have tanks into which the liquid 
manure is drained. No good farmers have a manure pile where 
the rain is going to wash away much of its substance. If there 
is no manure shelter, it is well to haul the manure directly to 
the fields as fast as made. In fact, the plan is a good one, any- 
way, unless the land is hilly and so likely to wash badly. 

The pigs need to be kept warm and growing. It pays to 
cook the feed. The pigs will respond by making extra rapid 
growth, if they have comfortable quarters. They need 
charcoal. 



18 THE COUNTRY HOME 



AN IMPORTANT POULTRY MONTH 

Particular attention is needed by the poultry this month. 
The days are short and the birds should be kept exercising most 
of the time they are off the roosts. This is accomplished by 
feeding them hard grain in a litter from five to ten inches deep. 
Straw makes the best litter, but leaves will answer, although 
they need to be renewed frequently, for they are quickly 
broken up. 

If the weather is very cold, it may be necessary to fill the 
water dishes several times a day. The inexpensive fountains 
fitted with tiny lamps are an advantage, for the water in them 
will not freeze. The lamps will run several days without 
being filled. 

It is well to have burlap curtains in front of the perches for 
use on excessively cold nights. They may be made to slide on 
a wire or may be tacked to hinged frames. They should be 
reserved for exceptionally cold nights only. In ordinary 
weather the hens are better off without them. 

The droppings need not be cleaned from the dropping 
boards so long as they are frozen, for no odor arises from them 
then. Care should be taken to get them out as soon as they 
thaw. Many poultry keepers are now getting rid of their 
dropping boards and of a lot of work at the same time. They 
simply stand a single board on edge on the floor a little in 



JANUARY 19 



advance of the perches, and the droppings are confined to that 
space, falling into a thick covering of litter. Cleaning out 
once a month is then sufficient. There are several advantages 
and few disadvantages to this plan. It is really more sanitary 
than the use of the dropping boards, for the manure is much 
farther away from the birds. 

If the supply of vegetables has given out, dried beet pulp 
may be substituted. It comes from the beet sugar factories 
and the grain dealers sell it. The price is low and it is used 
by many commercial poultry keepers. In appearance it is much 
like some of the prepared breakfast foods, but when soaked 
for a few minutes in hot water it swells and gives off a strong 
beet odor. If the hens do not seem to relish it at first, being 
new, a little grain and beef scrap may be mixed with it. Then 
they are pretty certain to eat it readily. 

This is the month for making up breeding pens. It is a 
wise plan to mate cockerels with hens which are one or two 
years older. If one is keeping poultry for the eggs they yield, 
he should choose the hens which were the earliest to lay. No 
difficulty in identifying them will be found if they are marked 
by the method which will be explained in the program for 
November. 

Some poultry keepers mate pullets with cocks one, two or 
three years older, but this plan has one disadvantage. If the 
pullets have been laying well all Winter, they will not be in 



20 THE COUNTRY HOME 



the best condition to produce strong, rugged chickens, and if 
they have not been laying well, they are not suitable birds to 
breed from anyway. When the heavy laying pullets of one 
year are kept over and not forced for laying, the second season, 
they are well equipped to give rugged chicks and to pass along 
the egg-laying tendency. 

One point in making up breeding pens must be remembered 
— the male should have come from an egg laid by a heavy- 
laying hen. It has been shown that the male has a very strong 
influence in building up a strain of good laying birds. 

While this plan of making up breeding pens is commonly 
adopted, yet on some extensive plants old cocks are placed 
with the pullets in the laying pens and the eggs used just as 
they come. On one important plant lOO Leghorn pullets are 
kept in a flock and cocks are put with them at the rate of one 
to every twenty-five. The fertility is high, too. Ordinarily, 
fifteen pullets to a cock is considered a rather large number. 
With the larger breeds, fewer females are used. When breed- 
ing pens are used, it is well to have two males, putting them 
with the hens on alternate days. When birds are being bred for 
show purposes, the pens are small and the matings are made 
very carefully in order to secure chickens of desired types. 
Experience and skill are required when mating fancy stock. In 
any case, the birds in a breeding pen should be selected and put 
together three or four weeks before the eggs are to be set. 



JANUARY 21 



If incubators are to be depended upon, a selection should 
be made at once. These machines entail a considerable invest- 
ment and should not be purchased without some study of the 
different types and their characteristics. Many of the state 
experiment stations are ready to give advice and to make 
reports on results secured with different machines. At the end 
of this book is a list of all the state experiment stations, with 
their locations. 



FEB RU ART 

Come now the lengthening days^ 
With drifting snow and mighty winds; 
A short month, though, and quickly passed. 



FEBRUARY 

WE MIGHT call February the pruning month, for 
there are many warm days in the average Feb- 
ruary, when the work of pruning the orchard trees 
may be undertaken to advantage. Midwinter pruning is 
often practiced, but it is much better to delay the work until 
this month. Severe freezing weather kills back the tender 
bark and the healing of the wounds is retarded. Peach and 
other fruit tiees easily winter-killed should preferably be left 
until the buds start, or even until the blossoms have fallen, in 
order that the full extent of the damage done by Jack Frost 
may be ascertained. Perhaps there will be no need of addi- 
tional cutting back. 

The proper trimming of trees is a science. Lopping off a 
branch here and there in the haphazard manner often seen is 
not pruning at all; it is simply tree butchery. A tree is a living 
thing. The elimination of a single limb influences the growth 
of the entire tree. Winter pruning causes an increased growth 
of wood. Summer pruning adds to the number of fruit buds 
formed. Young trees are best trimmed a little each season, 
much of this trimming being merely the rubbing out of buds. 
Shortening back the branches, the removal of dead wood or 

[ 25 ] 



26 THE COUNTRY HOME 

broken limbs and the trimming away of suckers will constitute 
most of the February work in an orchard which has been well 
cared for. 

All trees must be kept headed in and the new growth prop- 
erly directed. The object of pruning should be to keep the 
head low, in order that the work of spraying the trees and pick- 
ing the fruit may be made as easy as possible, and open, so that 
the sunlight may reach all the fruit. Trees with a great mass 
of wood and foliage bear mostly on the outside branches. The 
rule is not the same for all sections, however. In the middle 
West, where the sun's rays are very hot, the trees are not grown 
as open as in New England or the Northwest. 

When apple trees have been neglected and have grown out 
of all bounds, drastic February treatment is necessary. All 
the dead wood should first be cut away. Then limbs which 
cross must be removed. If left, they will chafe until a wound 
is made and decay will set in. Limbs growing straight into the 
air should, as a rule, be taken out, and when parallel limbs 
close together are found, good pruning demands the removal 
of one of them. 

Farmers of yesterday commonly sawed off the lower limbs 
of their trees and left those in the top. Such high headed 
specimens are not practicable in these days of fungi and insect 
pests, and the renovation of an orchard containing trees of 
this character must be preceded by the removal of all the high 



FEBRUARY 27 



limbs, even though this means the literal decapitation of the 
trees. Future crops will be produced on wood forced from 
below. It is wise to spread this work over several years, for 
heavy cutting is naturally a severe shock to the tree. A minia- 
ture forest of water sprouts is pretty certain to appear the 
next summer, and they will have to be cut away. These water 
sprouts are not always an unmixed evil. Occasionally one 
is found located just where a bearing branch is needed. It, of 
course, should be allowed to grow. 

It is important to know something about cutting large limbs 
before the renovation of an old orchard is undertaken. The 
cut should always be made close to the trunk or limb from 
which the branch to be removed grows and exactly parallel to 
it. There is no excuse for leaving a stump. 

If a heavy limb is sawed entirely from above, it is almost 
sure to split down the bark when it falls. This is avoided by 
first making an under cut, which will cause the limb to make 
a clean break. A sharp, light pruning saw is needed. There 
is no place for an axe in the orchard. Every cut must be 
smooth. 

Nature provides for the protection of wounds to some 
extent by causing the cambium layer to grow over them, seal- 
ing them up the way a glass of jelly is sealed with paraffine. 
If the wound is large, though, decay is likely to set in before 
the wound has been covered. The fruit grower helps Nature 



28 THE COUNTRY HOME 

by painting the wound with good linseed oil paint, which 
keeps it free from spores until it has time to heal. Every 
wound over an inch in diameter should be painted without 
tail. There is no better time for trimming shade trees. 

Although it may be left until March if deemed desirable, 
the pruning of shrubs may also be done this month. This ap- 
plies, though, only to the late-blooming shrubs. If those which 
bloom early were to be pruned, there would be but few blos- 
soms, for shrubs in this class form their buds the previous Fall. 
Among the shrubs and vines to prune now are hydrangea pani- 
culata, altheas, viburnums, rose bushes, honeysuckles and 
clematis Jackmani. The early flowering shrubs are to be 
pruned just after they bloom. 

Shrubs often get more pruning than is good for them. 
With a few exceptions, they look best when allowed to grow 
naturally and the knife needs to be used only to cut out dead 
wood and to remove a little of the new growth, if very heavy. 
Nipping of the ends is to be avoided. When cutting is to be 
done, let it be at the base of the plant, taking out an entire 
cane. 

Hydrangea paniculata diifers somewhat from most shrubs. 
It is most obliging in its habits and may be cut and trained in 
any way desired. It may be grown as a dwarf or as a tall 
shrub, trimming being done without hesitation. 

In some parts of the country roses may be trimmed this 



FEBRUARY 29 



month. In other sections it is better to wait until March. 
Most of the roses need cutting back at least one-fourth, often 
more. The weaker the plant the more severe should be the 
pruning and the canes should be cut back carefully to a point 
just above an outside bud. Climbing roses do not require much 
trimming. Removal of the old wood and a slight cutting 
back is sufficient. The pruning of shrubs is worthy a little 
study, for the different sorts have quite different habits. 

Orders for fruit trees, shade trees and shrubs should be 
placed at once, if they have not already gone to the nursery- 
men. Delay is likely to mean disappointment. 

By the last of the month the manure for the hotbeds should 
be drawn. Fresh horse manure is the kind needed and if it 
contains about one-third straw, so much the better. For 
best results it should be piled under cover and turned every 
other day for a week. If it does not begin fermenting at 
once, a few pailfuls of hot water may be poured over the pile. 
Turning will make the fermentation uniform and keep the 
manure from burning. Commercial vegetable growers start 
their beds in February. Washington's birthday, the 22nd, is 
considered the proper date for sowing tomato seeds. In the 
home garden, March will be early enough to begin operations. 

It is well to look over the various fruit trees around the place 
in order to detect the nests of insect pests. In New England 
many brown tail and gypsy moth nests will be discovered, 



30 THE COUNTRY HOME 

without doubt. They must come off. The tent caterpillar has 
a much wider range and is not so easy to detect. The eggs are 
laid on the tips of the twigs and covered with a smooth sub- 
stance like varnish, which protects them from the weather. 
Fortunately, spraying early in Spring with arsenate of lead for 
the codling-moth will kill these pests. If left to themselves, 
tent caterpillars when numerous will strip an orchard clean. 

This is also a good time to look for black knot on the plum 
trees. It is indicated by a swelling and must be dealt with 
promptly. The best plan is to cut ofF the affected limb a foot 
below the swelling, the part removed being burned. 

If there is snow on the ground, it is advisable to tramp it 
firmly around the trees to keep mice from lodging under it 
and feeding on the bark. 

Snow on the bee hives will help to keep the inmates warm, 
but it must be kept away from the entrance. Otherwise ice 
may be formed and the air supply cut off. Bees need air, even 
in winter. 

It is wise to look over the apples and potatoes this month, 
those which are not keeping being promptly removed. It is 
really worth while buying a little kitchen evaporator for using 
up fruit which is not keeping well, if one has a considerable 
quantity. A small cider press may also be used for working up 
apples which are beginning to decay. 

It will stimulate the rhubarb to give the plants a heavy 



FEBRUARY 3 1 



dressing of old manure late in the month. A few early stalks 
for the cook may be secured by placing boxes over several 
roots, heaping fresh horse manure over the boxes to force the 
growth. Roots dug from the garden in the Fall and frozen, 
may still be forced in boxes in the greenhouse or a heated 
cellar, being kept dark. 

In many of the Southern states, fruit trees as well as 
strawberry, raspberry and blackberry plants, may be set out 
this month. 

GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW GARDENS 

February is none too early to sow seeds of bedding plants, 
when a greenhouse is available. Asters, hollyhocks, cosmos, 
ageratum, cockscomb, petunias, salvia, Drummond's phlox, 
snapdragon and forget-me-nots are among those recom- 
mended. 

Sweet peas, stocks, mignonette, may be started for bloom- 
ing in the greenhouse before there are flowers out of doors. 
The asparagus ferns may be started, too, to provide plants 
next winter. This is also true of the cheerful looking Jerusa- 
lem cherry. New aspidistras may be secured simply by divid- 
ing the roots of a well established plant. 

Cuttings from fuchsias will make good plants for next sea- 
son. In fact, this is a good month to make cuttings from many 
plants, — better than January, for there is more light. 



32 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Cyclamen is one of the very best plants for house decora- 
tion this month. Not only does it make a splendid display in 
pots, but the flowers will last a week or more in water. They 
are very handsome on the dining table and a few plants are 
worth growing simply to furnish cut flowers. It is better not 
to actually cut the blossoms, but to remove them by twisting 
off the stem. 

Flowering bulbs may still be forced. The double tulips 
force better now than earlier. Some of the seedsmen sell bulbs 
in pots ready to bring into heat. They are not expensive and 
in this way it is made very easy to have flowers all winter. 
Usually the bulbs may be forced without trouble if kept in 
a room which is not excessively warm and not placed where 
the plants will be in a draft or exposed to hot blasts, as from 
a register or fireplace. 

This is an excellent month to repot the palms. The mis- 
take often made of increasing the pot several sizes is to be 
avoided. Unless considerable growth has been made, the 
plants may be replaced in the same pot. 

Forsythias, lilacs, flowering almonds and even fruit tree 
branches may be flowered in the house if brought in the latter 
part of the month. Branches with well developed buds 
should be cut and placed in water in a sunny window. The 
forsythia is the easiest and quickest of the shrubs to bring into 
flower in this manner. 



FEBRUARY 33 



A start with vegetables may be made by planting lettuce, 
cabbages and cauliflower in the greenhouse, the plants to go to 
the cold frames when large enough. 

In the South, gladioli may be started this month in the open 
ground and many seeds sown in cold frames. Pansies may be 
sown where they are to flower. . Most of the hardier vegetables 
may be started in the course of the month, and even cucumber 
and melon seeds may be sown, if garden frames can be used 
over the young plants. 

STABLE AND LIVESTOCK 

Many young pigs will come into the world this month and 
next. It is best to wean the youngsters when six weeks old 
and to let the sow run with the boar at once. Even young pigs 
may be fed corn this cold month and a diet containing potatoes 
and other vegetables will help keep the mature animals con- 
tented when closely confined. It should be remembered that 
hogs suffer when exposed, like other animals. 

The young calves will also begin coming this month. If 
they are to be dehorned by the caustic potash method, the work 
should be done when they are from two to five days old. The 
hair is clipped away from the budding horn and a space as 
large as a cent is moistened, but not enough so that the caustic 
will run over the skin. A caustic pencil is used, generally be- 
ing wrapped in paper to protect the hands, and is rubbed 



34 THE COUNTRY HOME 

thoroughly over the horn bud. A scab is formed, which drops 
off in about a month, and the horns do not grow. It is dis- 
tinctly an advantage to have all the cattle on a country place 
without horns. 

What was said in January about ventilation applies with 
equal force this month. Many regulations, some of them 
hardly more than fads, have been made to secure pure, clean 
milk, but the facts have been established that the chief re- 
quirements are light, well ventilated stables, clean cows and 
clean milkers. Without doubt the cows should be groomed 
every day, and it is well to have this work done at stated 
hours. Cows are creatures of habit to an exceptional degree 
and thrive best when cared for by the clock. Before they are 
milked, the udder should be wiped off with a damp cloth and 
the first stream should go into a special receptacle, to be fed 
the pigs or thrown away. The milk yield can often be in- 
creased by studying the individual needs of the animals, rather 
than feeding them all alike. 

Early lambs require particularly careful handling. Those 
that come in February will need a warm stable, possibly with 
a little artificial heat. They will be able to endure more cold 
when a week old and when two weeks old may be castrated. 
Sheep are profitable where they can be safely raised. The dog 
nuisance seems to be the greatest stumbling block. 

A man may be fortunate in his dogs, as in his friends. 



FEBRUARY 35 



Some dogs are well worth keeping. Others are a menace and 
a detriment. Probably the first choice of a farm dog would 
lie between a collie and an airedale terrier. When a home pro- 
tector and friend is wanted, the best plan is to buy a spayed 
female. Such a dog will not wander away, will not pick up 
quarrels and will not attract other dogs. 

Never should a horse be permitted to stand unblanketed 
after a hard drive at this time of the year. If there is no blan- 
ket at hand, the animal should be walked about until cool or 
else stabled in a warm barn. 

It is an excellent plan to give the horses a bran mash once 
a week, say on Saturday night. The way to make the mash 
is to turn boiling water into a bucket, the bran then being 
mixed into the water, and a little salt added. The bucket 
should be covered and the mixture allowed to steam for two 
or three hours or until cool enough to feed. It is not well to 
feed the mash on an evening before a long drive is to be made. 

FEBRUARY IN THE POULTRY YARD 

The incubators should be set up and made ready for use 
this month, even though they are not to be heated before the 
first of March, which is early enough for setting the eggs of 
any of the breeds except the Asiatics — the Cochins, Brahmas 
and Langshans. Eggs of these heavy breeds should go into 
the machines this month. 



36 THE COUNTRY HOME 

It is none too early to put in orders for hatching eggs, or 
day-old chicks. It is worth noting that many breeders have 
stopped hatching at home, and are either sending their eggs 
to custom hatcheries or buying day-old chickens. The coming 
of mammoth hatching machines, accommodating from 1,200 
to 20,000 eggs at one time, has practically revolutionized 
poultry keeping. Immense plants are devoting themselves to 
the sale of chicks just out of the shell, some of these plants 
selling as many as 100,000 youngsters in a season. The price 
runs from ten to forty cents each, depending upon the stock. 
There is usually a gamble in buying day-old birds, unless the 
buyer is acquainted with the flock from which the eggs came. 
The chicks may turn out well and they may not. Breeders 
who are known to have high class stock may be dealt with, of 
course, without much fear of getting poor birds. They are 
likely to be flooded with orders though, for March, April and 
May delivery. 

The man who wants to hatch from his own eggs but dis- 
likes to bother with broody hens or an incubator may send the 
eggs by parcel post to hatching plants which feature custom 
hatching. He pays a small fee and gets his chickens by ex- 
press when they are ready for him. Both professional poultry 
keepers and amateurs are falling into the habit of having their 
eggs hatched in this manner. There are now hatching concerns 
in most communities. 



FEBRUARY 37 



In some localities there is a steady demand for broilers and 
the best prices may be secured if the incubators for hatching 
the eggs are started early in the month, in order to have the 
chickens out about the first of March. Then the machines 
may be filled again and the pullets from the second lot of chicks 
kept for layers, the cockerels being marketed. 

Eggs to be used for hatching should be gathered several 
times a day, in order that they may not be chilled. They are 
best kept at a temperature between forty and sixty and it is 
not wise to set eggs which are much over two weeks old. 

If the litter on the floor of the poultry house has been 
packed hard, it should be renewed. It is very necessary to keep 
the hens exercising, and there is no better way to accomplish 
this object than to feed grain in a deep litter. 

Glass windows should be washed and muslin curtains 
cleaned. These curtains give little ventilation when the pores 
are filled with dust; and dust collects upon them very quickly. 

If a start with ducks, geese or turkeys is to be made, eggs 
or breeding stock must be ordered at once. Geese should 
really be mated up in the month of December or earlier, and 
it is better to buy eggs rather than breeders at this season. 
Toulouse and Emdens are the two popular breeds. The 
former are white and the latter gray. Both weigh about 
twenty pounds. White or Brown Chinese geese are classed 
among the ornamentals, but are really very good table birds. 



38 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Gray African geese are not commonly considered profitable 
for market, but are among the best for home use, as the meat 
is fine of hbre and excellent in flavor. Both the Africans and 
the Chinese geese have peculiar knobs at the base of the bill. 

If they have wide range, geese are very easy to raise and 
the owners of many country homes with meadows, marshes 
or rough pasture land make a mistake in not keeping a flock 
of these birds, which graze much like cattle and require only 
a little shelter from hard storms. 

As only a few eggs are laid, they are rather expensive — 
25 cents apiece. They are large, too, and a good sized Plym- 
outh Rock hen can hardly cover more than six or seven. From 
28 to 30 days are required for incubation and it often is neces- 
sary to help the goslings out of the very tough shells. It is 
customary to hatch the earliest eggs under hens and to let the 
goose incubate the last clutch. 

Among the ducks, Pekins, Indian Runners and Rouens are 
raised in considerable numbers and their popularity ranges in 
the order given. Indian Runners are constantly growing in 
favor, though, and promise to take the lead eventually, except 
on large commercial plants. 

There are three varieties, fawn and white, penciled and 
pure white. They are not large, and are inferiors of the 
Pekins when meat is the object, but as egg producers they 
are wonderfully prolific, being termed the Leghorns of the 



FEBRUARY 39 



duck family. From 125 to 200 eggs a year may be ex- 
pected from each duck in a good flock. The eggs are white, 
or should be, and run six to the pound. Some strains 
lay many green shelled eggs, and when the beginner buys 
either stock or eggs for hatching, he should be particular about 
this point. The hatching period is 28 days and hens or incu- 
bators may be used. Ducks occasionally become broody, but 
cannot be depended upon. 

The White Pekin is the market duck. On some large 
plants from fifty to a hundred thousand are raised each season. 
They are marketed when they are ten or eleven weeks old, at 
which age they should weigh five or six pounds. These ducks 
are very fat and there is much waste when they are prepared 
for the table. When raised for one's own table it is better not 
to force them so hard. Dealers frankly call the fat young 
ducks "gold bricks." Growing ducklings for market is a prof- 
itable but highly exacting business. Rouens are good ducks 
for farmers to raise, for they require but little care and the 
meat is excellent. The plumage is dark. 

In February and early March the breeding turkeys should 
not be fed many beef scraps or much other nitrogenous food 
which would be likely to induce early laying. The last of 
March or early April is the time for turkey eggs to come. 
Usually there is wet weather late in May and it is well if the 
turkey poults do not come out of their shells until after that 



40 THE COUNTRY HOME 

period. The first of June is early enough. When eggs are 
to be purchased, they may be ordered now, but later delivery 
should be arranged for. The beginner, at least, is pretty cer- 
tain to fail with early hatched turkeys. 



MARCH 

"^ke stormy March has come at last, 
With zvind, and cloud, and changing skies!' — Bryant. 



M 



MARCH 

ARCH is a wonderful month; the month when Na- 
ture, awake from her long sleep, gives her rich 
treasures again into the hands of men; the month of 
plowing and harrowing, of bonfires and garden renovation; 
the month to make lawns and plant the hardiest of the vege- 
tables—a very busy month, indeed, for the maker of gardens. 

One can not specify definitely all the work to do in IVIarch. 
Much depends upon the season, for March is a most fickle 
month. It may be possible to get the garden into perfect con- 
dition for planting. On the other hand, much of the work 
may have to go over until April. It is not well to be hasty in 
uncovering protected shrubs and beds. The litter from the 
bulb and strawberry beds is best removed gradually, at any 
rate. Strawberry plants which may have been raised by the 
frost should be pressed back with the foot. It is an excellent 
practice to pull the straw from the beds into the rows between 
the plants to mulch the ground and keep the berries from the 
earth. 

In severe winters privet hedges are often badly damaged. 
In order to save these hedges they must be cut back to living 
wood. This often means only stubs a few inches long. No 

[43] 



44 THE COUNTRY HOME 

other treatment is necessary, except that the burning of leaves 
along the hedge rows must be avoided. Plants that have been 
cut back are easily killed by the heat. 

This is one of the best times to spray the orchard trees for 
San Jose scale. Lime sulphur wash or miscible oils may be 
used. With only a few trees it is best to buy prepared mix- 
tures. In many sections men with the necessary apparatus can 
be hired to do the work. The job is a dirty one and to be 
avoided when possible. On large estates and farms a spray- 
ing outfit is indispensable. A barrel pump on a wagon is con- 
venient. 

New lawns may be made and old lawns repaired. The 
seed is very hardy and may even be sown on the last snov/. 
The proper making of a new lawn is not a matter to be under- 
taken hastily. Many lawns are midsummer failures because 
they were not well made. Good soil is imperative. If it is 
not already on the plot to be seeded, it must be hauled there. 
Also, it must be cultivated deep and well — and the earlier the 
better. With sod land, it is well to grow a crop of potatoes 
one season, to get the ground into a satisfactory condition of 
tilth. Deep culture will encourage the grass roots to burrow 
down where they will be safe from the scorching ra3^s of a 
summer sun. 

Making the plot perfectly smooth is a job for an expert. 
An iron rake and a roller are needed. It is easv to detect 



MARCH 45 



uneven spots on ground which has been rolled. The addition 
of well rotted manure, pulverized sheep manure or a good 
commercial fertilizer will give the grass something to feed on 
for years. 

Only the very best seed should be sown. The best is none 
too good, and to buy poor seed is but to throw one's money 
away. On the whole, there is no better plan than to buy a 
seed mixture from a reliable dealer. For special situations, 
like shaded spots, terraces and tennis courts, there are special 
mixtures made of grasses best suited for such places. 

When a large lawn is to be made, it may pay to buy sepa- 
rate seeds and mix them. A good mixture is composed as fol- 
lows : Kentucky blue grass, 9 lbs. ; Rhode Island bent grass, 3 
lbs.; red top, 4 lbs.; English rye grass, 3 lbs.; white clover, 1 lb. 

Mr. Leonard Barron in his book on lawns recommends the 
following special mixtures : For shady places — Kentucky blue 
grass, 8 lbs. ; crested dog's tail, 2 lbs. ; wood meadow grass, 4 lbs. ; 
various leaved fescue, 2 lbs. For sandy soil — Kentucky blue 
grass, 5 lbs.; creeping bent grass, 6 lbs.; Rhode Island bent 
grass, 6 lbs.; fine leaved fescue, 3 lbs. For clay soils — Ken- 
tucky blue grass, 10 lbs.; English rye grass, 4 lbs.; tansy red 
top, 6 lbs. 

A still and preferably a dull day is to be chosen for sowing 
grass seed, which is very light. The earliest hour of the day 
is likely to be the quietest. It requires some skill to distribute 



46 THE COUNTRY HOME 

the seed evenly, though conditions be perfect. For large 
plots, a seed sower working automatically is needed. When 
the hand is used, it is wise to sow first lengthwise and then 
crosswise the plot. 

After the seed has been sown, an iron rake may be used to 
woi*k it lightly into the ground. Then the roller should be 
brought into play. A roller is of great importance in making 
a lawn and in keeping it in condition. It should be a heavy 
roller, though, in order to do good work. If it is heavy enough 
to require the muscle of two men, so much the better. 

At this season there is likely to be rain in abundance, but 
if it does not come, watering will be required, for the grass 
plot should be kept moist until the surface of the ground is 
covered with a fine green mist. An examination at this time 
will show any bare spots, calling for extra seed. 

Old lawns in need of repairs may be renovated in several 
ways. Sometimes the best way is to plow it up and start over, 
but even a poor lawn may often be improved by mixing sheep 
manure with good loam and scattering the combination an inch 
deep over the grass. The iron rake should then be used to work 
the loam and manure well down into the grass, which will 
quickly grow through it. The sowing of additional grass seed 
may be a help. 

Most lawns several years established are benefited by an 
application of pulverized sheep manure or commercial ferti- 



MARCH 47 



lizer, but feeding of this character is really necessary when the 
grass shows signs of running out or when lack of vigor is shown 
by the appearance of weeds. A thrifty lawn will crowd out 
most weeds. If there are bare spots, they should be covered 
with good loam and grass seed sown thickly. In all seeding, 
it is a mistake to be niggardly in the amount used. Use of 
the roller in the Spring is beneficial, on new or old lawn. 

This is a good time to gather all the rubbish, tree trimmings 
and the like and to make a lively bonfire on a quiet day. This 
fire should be in an open spot and not under trees, for the 
latter are easily injured by intense heat. 

Grafting unsatisfactory trees may be done just before the 
buds swell, but the scions should be cut while the weather is 
still cold and buried in sand in a cool cellar or possibly buried 
in the field. Grafting is a great aid to the fruit grower. When 
trees are found which produce fruit of inferior quality or of a 
variety not adapted to the location, it is a simple matter to 
make grafts; in three years fruit of the desired sort will be 
borne, if the operation is a success. It is possible to have a 
dozen varieties of apples on one tree, and amateurs who have 
only a few trees often find it an advantage to graft several 
different varieties on them. Farmers with many trees often 
increase their profits by grafting on varieties which are in 
greater demand than those they have. Of late many orchards 
have been grafted wholly or in part to Mcintosh Reds, 



48 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Even wild plum trees along the fence rows may be made 
to produce palatable and marketable fruit. Beurre Bosc pear, 
which is a rather hard variety to grow, may be grafted nicely 
on some more common sort. Old trees are often entirely 
changed over by top working, which means grafting all the 
main limbs and gradually cutting away all the old head. 

Scions come best from wood of the past year's growth and 
from the ends of bearing branches. They should come, too, 
from prolific trees bearing fruit of the highest quality. This 
is important. The best limbs to graft are from one to three 
inches in diameter and should be cut oif square at the time of 
grafting. A grafting knife will be needed for inserting the 
scions, one end having a wedge. The knife is first used to split 
the limb just enough to receive the scions, after which it is 
knocked out and the hook used to hold the cut open. 

Good scions should be about five inches long, a quarter of 
an inch thick and contain three to five buds. The lower end 
must be cut into a wedge, with a single clean stroke on each 
side with a sharp knife. The wedge may be an inch or an 
inch and a half long and one side should be a little thicker 
than the other. The scions are to be prepared just before using, 
in order that they may not dry out. Two scions are in- 
serted in each stub, one at each side, the thicker edge outward. 
The purpose should be to have the inner bark of the graft and 
that of the stub touch. It is there that the two are to unite. 



MARCH 49 



When the scions are in position, the wedge is removed and the 
cleft holds them tight, there being special pressure on the 
thicker outer edge. 

The graft once made, every precaution must be taken to 
bind up the wound so that decay will not set in. Grafting wax 
is relied upon for this purpose and may be bought ready made. 
The wax must be soft, even if it has to be melted, and it can 
be used easily only when the hands are well greased. Every 
crack and crevice must be filled with the wax, with a little 
laid around the scions at their base and a bit on the upper 
end. An additional application of wax may be needed for sev- 
eral seasons. 

If both scions start to grow, one must be cut away in mid- 
summer, preferably, of course, the weaker one. By using two 
at the start, the chances of success are doubled, but one only 
must grow into a limb. The average man can do a job of 
grafting after reading these directions, but it will be much 
better for him to watch an experienced man at work before 
he goes ahead. 

GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW GARDEN 

Plants from cuttings rooted in February will be ready to 
shift this month. Propagating may still be continued. Bou- 
vardia is easily started from root cuttings in bottom heat, 
treated like seeds. Plants for bedding may be made from 



50 THE COUNTRY HOME 

geraniums and lantanas. To propagate violets it is only nec- 
essary to separate the rooted runners from the old plants. 
They should be potted up and planted outdoors in April or 
May. 

If lilies in the greenhouse are wanted for Easter and seem 
backward, more heat must be given them. They must be kept 
free of lice at all events. 

Flowering bulbs may still be forced in the house. More 
people should try the tulips, for they make a splendid display 
at a season when bright colors are to be appreciated. 

Many people throw away their azaleas when they have 
finished blooming, but this is not necessary. If plunged in a 
shaded spot in the garden and given a little water, they will 
bloom well the next season and even for several seasons. It 
hardly pays to carry cyclamens over, however. Another plant- 
ing of lettuce and radishes may be made in the greenhouse. 

OUTDOOR GARDEN WORK 

March is the month for starting the hotbed, a great help 
in getting an early garden. It should be put into operation 
the first week, even in the northern states. A cold frame, 
which is a duplicate of the hotbed, except that it has no bottom 
heat, often may be started before the end of the month, de- 
pending on weather conditions. Less work is involved in pre- 
paring a cold frame and most amateurs will find it satisfac- 



MARCH 51 



tory, if they can start the seeds of a few plants in the house. 
With a hotbed, however, it is possible to have lettuce and 
radishes for the table before they can be planted outside. 

Sash for hotbeds come in a standard size, 3x6 feet. "Pony" 
sash, which are half the standard size, are also made and are 
easier for women to handle. There are both single and double 
sash, llie latter cost more but may be used without mats, 
such as are needed for single-glass sash on cold nights. Sash 
are often bought open and the glass put in at home. When 
this plan is followed, mastic putty should be used, as it 
hardens very quickly. Single-glass sash complete ought to 
be bought for not over $2.50. 

Any number of sash may be used side by side, the size of 
the hotbed being governed accordingly. A two-sash bed, 
which is just six feet square, will be large enough for starting 
a great many plants. It is not a bad plan to divide the bed, 
in order that one side may be kept a little cooler than the other. 
Such vegetables as tomatoes, peppers and egg {)lants need 
more heat than cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower and similar kinds. 

The same end is attained by starting the seeds in pots or 
shallow boxes, for then the plants may be shifted to the warm- 
est or coolest spots in the bed at will. Paper pots and dirt 
bands may be used to great advantage ancl cost but little. The 
plants grown in them may be set in the garden without remov- 
ing the pots or bands, which will prove a barrier to cutworms. 



52 THE COUNTRY HOME 

The bottoms need merely be torn from the pots; the bands are 
bottomless. 

When making a hotbed it is best to dig an excavation 30 
inches deep and a little larger than the area of the proposed 
bed. If the ground should be frozen, manure may be heaped 
up two feet deep and the frame set on that. It is much better 
to have a pit, of course. Commonly stout stakes are driven 
at the corners and the planks for the frame spiked to them. 
It is best to have the frame about two feet at the back and 
I ^ inches in front, the slope being toward the south or south- 
east, in order to capture all the rays of the sun. If it should 
be desired to take the frame apart in summer the corners may 
be fastened together with bolts. It is well to have the frame 
extend into the ground about three inches. In permanent 
beds, sub-frames are often constructed. They may be of 
plank or brick or cement. All-cement frames are beginning 
to be used. 

Heat for the bed is to be supplied by fresh horse manure, 
preferably mixed with some straw or leaves, for then the heat 
lasts longer. The manure is best piled under cover for sev- 
eral days and turned a number of times to secure even fer- 
mentation. If it does not heat readily, a bucketful of water 
may be thrown over it. 

When ready, the manure should go into the bed and fill 
it. Throwing it into the pit a layer at a time is best, each 



MARCH 53 



layer being well trodden. To be just right, the manure should 
contain enough litter to make it a little springy under the feet. 
Good soil to a depth of six inches is needed over the manure. 
With the bed filled, the sash are to be put on and left until 
the heat has dropped to 80 degrees, a thermometer being driven 
into the soil. In two or three days the bed will be ready for 
planting the earliest seeds. Tomatoes, egg plant and peppers 
will need to go in at once to give garden plants. Radishes, 
lettuce, peppergrass and mustard may be matured in the bed. 
Three weeks will give cuttings of grass and mustard. But 
little longer is needed for the early forcing radishes. Set 
onions may be had in a month. 

A hotbed must be watched, water applied intelligently 
and ventilation given on every fair day. It is best to leave 
the sash raised a crack at all times, when the weather is at all 
warm. Gardeners use a brick for raising the sash, placing it 
flat, on its side or end, according to amount of ventilation 
required. Plants must not be allowed to grow spindling. 

Often a cold frame is used as an adjunct to the hotbed, 
started plants being shifted to it from the latter. All the 
plants named may be sown in it, however, when the weather 
has become sufficiently mild. When only a cold frame is used, 
tomatoes, peppers, egg plants and celery may be started in boxes 
in a kitchen window, the plants being transferred to the frame 
when large enough. 



54 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Early flowers of many varieties are to be enjoyed onlv 
when the seeds are sown under glass, either in a. hotbed or a 
cold frame. China asters, pot marigolds, candytuft, snap- 
dragon, gypsophilia, stock, nitociana, salpliglossis, godetia 
and many other flowers are included in the list. 

After a hotbed has served its purpose of starting early vege- 
tables, the sash may be put away and the uncovered beds used 
for growing melons or cucumbers to maturity. Feeding on 
the exhausted manure, the plants make very rapid and strong 
growth, usually being much ahead of those in the open. Of 
course it is not necessary to have either a hotbed or a cold 
frame in order to start plants early. Boxes and kitchen win- 
dows have been relied upon for generations. It is well, how- 
ever, not to start the seeds quite so early as when the outdoor 
accessories are to be used. Otherwise, they get too large or 
become spindling. 

Peas are the earliest seeds for the open ground. The 
smooth sorts are a little hardier than the wrinkled varieties 
and may be planted earlier. Spinach may go in at about the 
same time. 

The asparagus bed should be dressed with bone meal or a 
ready mixed fertilizer. Manure may be used, but is likely 
to introduce weed seeds. Onion sets may also go in early. 
Much depends upon the season, whether cold, warm, wet or 
dry. It is foolish to work the ground when it is sticky. In- 



MARCH 55 



deed, it is possible to ruin a garden by being in too great a 
hurry. Plowing the garden a little deeper than last year will 
add to its fertility. 

Harrowing is very important and an effort should be made 
to get the soil fine. Much may be done with an iron rake to 
give a finishing touch to the work. Manure is needed, of 
course — lots of it. One need have little fear of getting on too 
much. Well rotted manure is much to be preferred, especially 
for root crops and particularly for potatoes. Fresh manure 
will answer if it is drawn on early. It is best well distributed 
as near the first of the month as possible and turned under 
when the garden is plowed. 

Many times garden and farm seeds prove a disappoint- 
ment. Seed testing is always wise, and where a large plot is 
to be planted should certainly not be neglected. Count a 
hundred seeds of each variety, fold them in a strip of blotting 
paper and insert the paper in a pan of moist sand, and the test 
is easily made. If the sand is kept moist and warm for several 
days, possibly a week, the best of the seeds will have sprouted. 
If at least 75 of each 100 seeds have not started into life, there 
is something wrong. 

In order to have very early gladioli the corms may be 
planted in boxes of earth this month and kept in a cool, shaded 
place indoors. The plants should not be set outside until 
danger of frost is past, but the gardener who tries this plan 



56 THE COUNTRY HOME 

will surprise his neighbors with gorgeous blooms before their 
plants have shown a bud. 

Usually sweet peas may be started this month. Rich soil 
is needed and should be thoroughly worked for perfect flowers. 
Sweet peas are rather fickle and like to be coaxed. Good garden 
makers dig a trench six inches deep, plant the seeds and cover 
them with two inches of soil, gradually filling the trench as 
the plants shoot up. 

Annual poppies are very robust, but dislike being moved. 
They may be sown this month where they are to flower. The 
newer varieties are wonderfully fine and glorify the garden 
all summer, if several later sowings are made. 

Late this month canna roots may be started indoors, being 
separated and the pieces, each with some of the crown at- 
tached, planted in boxes or large pots. 

In the Southern states, all the tender vegetables and flow- 
ers may be started in March. 

STABLE AND LIVE STOCK 

Spring clipping of horses is much better than fall clipping, 
in spite of custom. Any one who has seen a clipped horse in 
zero weather may be pretty certain of the animal's opinion. 

The wise and humane farmer makes certain that the col- 
lars worn by the work horses fit. By so doing he saves the 
animal from having sore shoulders, which are commonly seen 



MARCH 57 



at this season. Bathing the shoulders after the harness has 
been removed is worth while, and the collars should have a 
daily cleaning. 

Dusty hay is often found at this season. It is bad for 
horses unless dampened before fed. 

It pays to give the cows plenty of exercise and fresh air. 
The)^ need it after the winter's close confinement. 

What to feed the cows often bothers new farmers. Half 
meal and half ground oats by weight, then half bran by bulk, 
is a standard formula and a good ration to be fed with hay. 
Gluten and similar high protein feeds must be used with care, 
but have their place in the commercial dairy. 

Cold skim milk is not advisable for young calves, at least 
until they are six months old. The milk is needed, but it 
should be warmed. When teaching a calf to drink, there will 
be less trouble — and possibly less strong language — if a pan 
instead of a pail is used. The calf is frightened to find its 
head in a pail. March calves sell when veal is high. 

After lambing, the ewes may be fed a handful of shelled 
corn to a pint of oats a day. Lambs coming this month will be 
worth a long price, if pushed. 

Oats and bran, with a very little corn, make a good ration 
for the brood sows. Warm farrowing pens are needed and a 
little help at farrowing time may be required. 

Some lambs may well be kept to renew the flock. Usually 



58 THE COUNTRY HOME 



sheep are not profitable after five years. Good ewes should give 
ten pounds of wool when sheared. 

A BUSY MONTH FOR THE POULTRYMAN 

This is the amateur's hatching month. Eggs of such breeds 
as the Plymouth Rocks, the Rhode Island Red, the Wyan- 
dottes and the Orpingtons should be set the first week; those 
of smaller breeds like the Leghorns and the Anconas a week or 
two later. The pullet which is hatched early — but not too 
early — will make the winter layer. 

If an incubator is used, it should be run a day or two be- 
fore the eggs are entrusted to it, and carefully regulated. 
Also, it should be placed where the temperature is equable, 
where direct sunlight will not fall upon it and where it will 
not be exposed to drafts, but where the ventilation is good. 
A house cellar is often the best place, if there be no special incu- 
bator cellar. No wise breeder will start his machine in such a 
situation, however, until he has obtained a permit from his in- 
surance company, costing him a small fee. 

As a rule, it is best to use a machine holding at least 120 
eggs, for it will require no more attention and little more oil 
than a smaller machine. When the egg chamber can be held 
at 103, the eggs may go in. The operator should be very sure 
about his thermometer; they sometimes go wrong. It may 
be tested by comparison with others. 



MARCH 59 



A day or more may be required for the eggs to become 
heated and the temperature will run low until then. Then 
the thermometer should be held at 103 for the 21 days of the 
hatch. With duck eggs, the machine is often run half a degree 
knver until the fourth week, 28 days being required to bring out 
ducklings. An occasional variation of a few degrees is not 
cause for alarm and it is a mistake to throw eggs away until one 
is sure they will not hatch. Embryonic chicks get a sturdy hold 
on life after the first week of incubation. 

After the second day the eggs should be shifted about with 
the hand night and morning. Air may be given at the same 
time and the eggs are usually removed on their tray, the door 
of the incubator being closed. At first they should be out 
but a short time. After a week more air is needed and espe- 
cially when the weather is warm. Some breeders place a ther- 
mometer on the eggs when they have been turned and restore 
them to the machine when the mercury drops to 85". 

The 18th day is the last for turning and cooling the eggs. 
It is then time to close the machine with a determination to 
keep it closed until the chicks are out of their shells. Help- 
ing out weak chicks seldom pays. On the other hand, it is often 
necessary to assist ducklings, for the shell membranes are very 
tough. In very dry climates it may be well to sprinkle all 
eggs with water at a temperature of 103 before hatching 
begins. 



60 THE COUNTRY HOME 



On the seventh day of incubation the eggs are to be tested 
by holding them between the eye and a strong light, a simple 
device being supplied with all incubators. If infertile, the 
egg will be clear; if there be a chick in it, an opaque spot will 
indicate the fact. On the seventh day lines may be seen radi- 
ating from this spot. An egg with a dead germ will not be 
clear but will have no blood lines. Such an egg is worthless, 
but the infertile eggs may be saved and boiled hard for the 
young chickens' first meals. Commonly a second test is made 
on the fifteenth day. Eggs are often pipped on the twen- 
tieth day and the chicks should be out by the end of the twenty- 
first. With a good hatch, the shells break in the middle and 
the youngsters all appear pretty close together. Yet hatches 
are often delayed. The chicks should be left in the incubator 
until thoroughly dry. Meantime, the brooder may be made 
ready for them. 

Running an incubator is not difficult, if the machine is a 
good one, but no necessary duty must be overlooked. The best 
oil is needed, the lamps must be scrupulously clean and the 
wick trimmed daily. There should be a new wick at the be- 
ginning of each hatch. A very helpful device is an electric 
alarm connected with a bell at the head of the operator's bed. 
If the temperature runs too high at night, the bell sounds a 
warning. 

It is not a bad plan to set several hens at the time the incu- 



MARCH 61 



bator is started. At the end of ten days, fertile eggs from 
under the hens may be placed in the machine as a substitute 
for those tested out. 

Several hens should always be set at the same time, in order 
that the chickens may be doubled up and given to one or more 
hens. It is foolish to have a hen running with only half a 
dozen chickens — perhaps only one. 

It is well to test eggs under hens as well as those in ma- 
chines. If many are tested out, two clutches may be combined 
and one hen released. 

Amateurs often neglect one most important point, which 
is dusting of the hen with lice powder. Hundreds of hens die 
on the nest every season from the plague of lice. This is both 
cruel and unnecessary. Dusting every week will keep the ver- 
min down. 

The sitting hen should have access to food, water and a 
dust bath. Corn is the best ration. 



APRIL 

''Sweet April! Many a thought 
Is wedded unto thee^ as hearts are zved; 
Nor shall they fail 'til to its Autumn brought^ 
Life's golden fruit is shed." — Longfellow. 



APRIL 

A WONDERFUL month is April. Nature then seems 
intent on but a single mission, to cover the whole earth 
with a carpet of green and to renew the life of every 
tree and flower and garden plant. April to the garden maker 
is a month of toil, the planting month, when the hopes and de- 
sires of a winter's breeding are buried with the seeds to spring 
up later in the fruits and flowers of summer's harvest. 

Usually there is much to be done around the house and 
grounds, too, — gutters to be cleaned out and minor repairs to 
be made. In many sections it is found that the red squirrels do 
no little damage in winter, which means that they should be 
driven from the neighborhood. Pert and saucy as they are, 
they must not be included among our pets, for they prey upon 
the friendly birds and are mischief-makers in general. Fences 
should be repaired this month and barns whitewashed. In 
fact, April might well be called the renovation month. 

The general farmer finds much work afield at this season. 
As a rule, all the plowing and harrowing may be completed. 
Oats, wheat and barley should be sown, even in Nevv^ England. 
Oats and peas make a valuable combination, providing fodder 
for the cattle and straw for winter. The oats and peas often 

[65] 



66 THE COUNTRY HOME 

are fed directly from the field, where the cows have no pasture. 
It is customary to sow a bushel and a half of peas to the acre, 
plowing them under about three inches. After that, the oats 
are drilled in at the rate of a bushel to the acre. 

AROUND rilK GROUNDS 

This is a splendid month for planting shrubs around the 
home grounds, for they will then get a good start before hot 
weather comes. There ar(^ good shrubs in great variety, but 
j)erhaps no better list can be made than the following, giving 
flowers practically the summer through: Forsythia, Lilacs, 
Tartariau I lonevsuckles, daj)anese Ouince, Spireas, Weigela, 
Syringa, Hydrangea Panicidata, \'iburnum or High Bush 
Cranberry, Jaj^anese Barberry, and Althea or Bose of Sharon. 

Shrubs usually look better wIumi massed along the sides of 
the garden or in a corner or possibly against a building. Hy- 
drangea Paniculata is very commonly grown as a specimen and 
makes a gorgeous show. Jap:niese Barberry is one of the best 
h(\lge plants. Wherever planted, the ground should be thor- 
oughly worked over. It is useless to stick a shrub into a hole in 
the sod ami (^xpect it to grow. 

Box and privet hedges should be trimmed this month, pref- 
erabl) before they start to grow. This is a good month to 
plant a hedg(\ too, and the best hedge plants are undoubtedly 
Japanese Barberry and California Privet. The latter grows the 



APRIL 67 

taller. Usually a barhcrry luHif:;;^ may hv allowiul to "^anj;- its 
ain fX•^i^" 'i"^ tli<^ Scotch say, but a privet hed^e will need con- 
stant slieariiii; to keep it trim and neat. /Vibor vita' is best 
for an excr^reen hed^e. A ])()int commonly overlooked when 
planting a hedge often brin<;s eml)arrassment later. All these 
plants have a wide spread and uidess they are set well back 
from the sidewalk they will soon grow over the line. 

Evergreens may be set out more successfully in April prob- 
ably than at any other time in the year. As a rule they are 
given no heading back. 

It is advisable to dig around all the lawn trees in order that 
they may not become choked, and then to mulch them. If the 
soil is at all stiff, it will be found an advantage to dig in some 
coal ashes. A few shrubs may be trinmied this month, but not 
those which bloom early. Tt is advisable, however, to cut away 
the suckers which spring up around the Persian Lilacs or the 
bushes will soon become a tangled mass. Tt is necessary to go 
slow in trimming the roses, but the work should not be left 
until they send out shoots. Often many su("kers may be dug up 
from around the Wichuriana roses and set out in other places 
around the grounds to make new plants. 

IN THE VEGETABI-E GARDEN 

It is a mistake to plant the vegetable garden, as many 
amateurs have learned to their sorrow, before the soil has been 



68 THE COUNTRY HOME 

thoroughly prepared. It is wise even to wait a week or two in 
order to secure this result. Most of the hardier vegetables may 
be planted this month even in the northern states. The list 
includes peas, beets, carrots, turnips, parsnips, salsify, spinach, 
potatoes, lettuce, radishes, Swiss chard and curly Scotch kale, 
along with started lettuce, onion and early cabbage plants from 
the cold frame. Early cabbages can stand more cold than is 
generally supposed and may be set out as soon as the ground 
can be worked. Even a flurry of snow will do the plants little 
or no harm. 

If one is in doubt about varieties, the following may be 
selected with reasonable assurance of satisfaction: Beets, 
Early Egyptian; Swiss chard, Lucullus; cabbage, Surehead, 
Copenhagen Market, Drumhead, Savoy and Danish Round- 
head, the latter being particularly good for winter; carrot, Dan- 
v€rs' Half Long; lettuce. Big Boston, Grand Rapids, May 
King, \yayahead. Black-seeded Tennis Ball and Salamander, 
the last for midsummer; parsnips. Student; peas, Gradus, Nott's 
Excelsior, Alderman, Stratagem and Telephone; spinach. 
Round thick-leafed and Longstanding. 

It is worth while planting peas and early potatoes just as 
soon as the ground can be made ready. Even if there is a 
frost or two later, no harm will be done and the crop will be 
ready at a time when these vegetables are scarce and high. 
Most vegetable gardens will profit by an application of lime 



APRIL 69 

to be harrowed in, but it is just as well to omit the lime where 
potatoes are to be grown. To prevent scab on potatoes, sus- 
pend them for an hour and a half in a coarse sack or basket in a 
solution made by dissolving two ounces of corrosive sublimate 
in two gallons of hot water with enough cold water added, after 
the mixture is cold, to make fifteen gallons. After removing 
the potatoes, spread them out to dry. 

Extra early potatoes may be secured by sprouting the tubers 
in trays or on the floor in a warm, light room before the ground 
is ready. Sowings of lettuce, cress and radishes may be made 
every two weeks from now on to insure a constant supply. 
Leeks have a flavor which is more delicate than that of onions. 
The seeds should be sown in rows about six inches apart and 
one inch deep. 

In order to beat your neighbor with early sweet corn, seeds 
may be sown in strawberry boxes in the house or in a cold frame. 
The corn "may be transplanted without difficulty after danger 
of frost has passed. 

Late cabbage and cauliflower seed may be started in cold 
frames or in a seed bed. Celery grown in boxes indoors should 
be transplanted to cold frames. For directions for planting, 
see the planting table in the Appendix. Rhubarb and aspar- 
agus may be hastened by covering a few roots with barrels or 
boxes and heaping fresh manure around them. This is the 
month for setting out both these vegetables. Rhubarb requires 



70 THE COUNTRY HOME 

very rich ground and a quantity of manure should be spaded 
in every Spring. 

When planting an asparagus bed, it is best to purchase one 
or two-year-old roots and they should be set twenty inches apart 
in a trench six inches deep and at least a foot wide. It used to 
be thought that it was necessary to have several inches of 
manure under the roots, but it has been found that the root 
growth is usually lateral instead of downward, so now it is the 
custom to work plenty of fertilizer into the ground between the 
rows. After the asparagus comes into bearing, it may be cut for 
about three weeks the first two years, and after that, for six 
weeks. An asparagus bed is good for about twelve years. An 
old bed is benefited by a liberal application of well rotted 
manure this month, and many people like to use salt or kainit as 
well. Argenteuil and Conover's Colossal are good kinds and 
Palmetto is often grown for commercial purposes. 

Radish seeds germinate quickly. Sown with the slow-grow- 
ing root crop like carrots and parsnips, the little plants will soon 
mark the rows for cultivation. 

IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 

All the bulb beds and herbaceous borders should be uncov- 
ered by the middle of the month, as a rule. It is well to do some 
spading in the borders and to work in some well rotted manure 
or bone meal. Many annuals may be sown by the end of the 



APRIL 7]_ 

month, if the season is an open one, and the perennial plants 
may be set out after danger of frost is over. 

Gladioli can go in safely even before the end of the frost 
period, but in order to get extra early flowers the corms should 
be planted in boxes of earth and kept in a cool place away from 
direct sunlight, indoors. The started plants may be set out 
when all danger of frost is past. Then gladioli should be 
planted every two weeks up to the first of July, to have a suc- 
cession. Commonly the bulbs or corms are not planted deep 
enough. Six inches is none too deep for large specimens. It is 
an excellent plan to grow a row or two of gladioli in the vege- 
table garden, cultivating them like the other crops, in order to 
secure an abundance of blooms for cutting. America is one of 
the best bulbs for this purpose. 

Sweet peas should go in this month, if they could not be 
planted in March. Other bulbs to plant in April include the 
Montbretias, which should be much better known than they are. 
The bulbs should go in about four inches deep. Tigridia, or 
shell flower, is another interesting bulb for April planting and 
this is none too early for putting bulbs of Hyacinthus candicans 
into the ground. 

Pansy plants may be set out as soon as the ground is ready 
and will flower continuously if the blossoms are kept picked. 
The little Bellis, or English daisy, can be planted at the same 
time and makes an excellent border for the pansies. Pansy 



11 THE COUNTRY HOME 

plants will grow in partial shade, but can not do their best if 
placed under trees. 

ORCHARD AND FRUIT GARDEN 

Both orchard trees and small fruits should be planted as 
early as the ground can be prepared, but thorough preparation 
is well worth while. If the trees or plants arrive before the 
ground is ready for them, it is best to heel them in. This means 
simply digging a trench and setting the nursery stock into it, 
slightly at an angle and with only the tops protruding, the 
trench being then filled in with earth. If the spot chosen is 
dry, the stock will keep safely until it can be planted out. 

Many people have the foolish notion that they can expect 
a tree to grow, if they merely dig a hole in the ground and thrust 
the roots into it. A tree is a living thing and must be treated 
as such. Proper planting of a fruit tree means opening up an 
excavation large enough to give the roots their full spread. 
Commonly the roots are cut back somewhat. All bruised and 
broken roots should be trimmed off clean in any case. Most of 
the fibrous roots on a transplanted tree are of no value. 

It is a common fault to set a tree too deeply or not deep 
enough. Usually a dark ring on the stock will show where it 
stood in the nursery. The tree should go into the ground with 
this ring just below the surface. After a part of the soil has 
been replaced, a bucket of water may be poured in, not so much 
because water is needed as to work the soil among the roots. 



APRIL 73 

It may be said, in passing, that the roots must never be allowed 
to dry out from the time they leave the nursery until they are 
planted again. When the trees are taken to the field, it is a 
good plan to wrap the roots in wet burlap or to set them in a 
pail or barrel filled with water. Some people make a thin mud 
and "puddle" the roots in that. 

While the soil is being replaced about the roots, the tree may 
be raised and lowered slightly in order that no air spaces may 
be left around the roots. The rootlets cannot start unless they 
are in the closest contact with the earth. Some people use a 
lath to press the soil into the openings between the roots. When 
the hole has been filled, a slight depression may be left to catch 
rainwater, but it is better to mulch the trees with grass, straw or 
stable litter. As a rule, but little fertilization is needed when 
trees are set out. It is better to feed them liberally later. 

Whether to buy one or two-year-old trees is a disputed point. 
It is not worth while to get trees more than two years old at any 
rate. Once in the ground, they must be cut back according to 
the variety and the way they are to be grown. These days fruit 
trees are almost invariably headed low and it is well to have 
the lowest branches not more than eighteen inches from the 
ground. Peach trees usually are trimmed back to a mere whip. 
Apples and pears are cut back less sharply and the purpose kept 
in mind of making an open, branching head. With most varie- 
ties it is best to cut out the leader. 



74 THE COUNTRY HOME 

When one has a small place, it is desirable to grow a number 
of dwarf fruit trees, particularly apples and pears. While it 
is necessary to wait from four to fifteen years to get fruit from 
a standard apple tree, according to variety, dwarf trees will 
bear in two or three years, while the fruit is quite as large and 
of the best quality. Oftentimes dwarf trees are trained on 
walls or buildings, thus taking no garden space which could be 
used for other crops. Often, too, these trees are trained on 
wires or trellises in much the same way as grapes. Considerable 
attention is necessary to grow them in this way, but very inter- 
esting effects are secured as well as high-class fruit. 

When an orchard is being planted it is of the utmost impor- 
tance to have trees of two varieties that bloom at the same time 
in order to secure cross fertilization, unless, of course, there be 
another orchard close at hand. Varieties of high quality in 
some sections are almost worthless in others, but it may be said 
in a general way that the following apples will provide a satis- 
factory succession for home use: Summer. Red Astrakhan; 
autumn, Gravenstein and Wealthy; early winter, Hubbardston 
and Mcintosh's Red; late winter, Baldwin, Greening and 
Northern Spy. Among the best pears are these : Summer, Bart- 
lett and Clapp's Favorite; autumn, Beurre Bosc and Seckel; 
winter, Beurre d'Anjou and Dana's Hovey. 

The small fruits, such as raspberries, blackberries, currants 
and gooseberries, should go into soil which has been thoroughly 



APRIL 75 

pulverized and preferably enriched with barnyard manure or 
sheep manure. For the home garden there should be a variety 
of sorts, including the red and blackcap raspberries and both 
white and red currants. A new raspberry called the St. Regis 
is of special value because it bears nearly the whole summer 
through. Cuthbert is a good red raspberry and Golden Queen 
is a popular yellow kind. Cherry and Fay's Prolific are favorite 
red currants, while White Grape is the best white sort. Doubt- 
less there is no better blackberry than Snyder, and Lucretia is 
the common dewberry, which is really a trailing variety of the 
blackberry, but ripens earlier. 

All the bush fruits should be planted away from buildings, 
where they will get a free circulation of air. It is not a good 
plan to set them along the fences. Currants will do very well 
in partial shade and even raspberries are often grown between 
the trees in a young orchard. Raspberries should stand four 
feet apart and blackberries six feet. Three feet will be far 
enough for currants if they are kept trimmed. Considerable 
cutting back should be done at planting time and the roots 
should be carefully arranged in the soil. Cultivation is com- 
monly practiced, but mulching is sometimes adopted. In the 
established fruit garden overgrown plants may still be trimmed, 
old canes being cut out. It is often an advantage to stake the 
blackberries. Nip off young canes of raspberries and black- 
berries when three feet high and cut out all but three or four. 



76 THE COUNTRY HOME 

There is no better time for making a strawberry bed, which 
should have a sunny location and be well drained. Probably 
the single row system is the best for the home garden, the plants 
being set about 16 inches apart with three feet between the rows. 
The important point to remember when setting strawberry 
plants is to have the crowns exactly level with the ground. At 
least a third of the roots should be trimmed off square with a 
pair of sharp scissors. Then, if the plant is taken between the 
finger and thumb and quickly twirled, the roots will open into 
a circle just right for setting into the hole made for them. The 
holes are quickly made with a long trowel, but when a number 
of plants are to be set out, it is easier to open rows with a hand 
plow. 71ie roots must not be allowed to dry out. 

No fruit can be expected unless care is taken to purchase 
perfect flowering plants or else a staminate and a pistillate 
variety. Otherwise the flowers will not be fertilized. Stam- 
inate varieties are perfect flowering. Among many good varie- 
ties for a succession are these : Early, Ozark, Glen Mary and 
Sample ; medium early, Abington, King Edward and Brandy- 
wine; late, Belmont and William Belt. Sample is the only 
variety among those named which is not perfect flowering, yet 
it is best to grow other kinds with Glen Mary and William 
Belt. The old strawberry bed should be cultivated; and when 
the leaves start to grow, a mulch of hay between the rows will 
keep the ground moist and the berries clean. 



APRIL 11 

The orchard should be plowed over, it kept in cultivation, 
but not deeply near the trees. Harrowing every ten days is 
wise, for it is important to conserve all the moisture possible at 
this season. Many people prefer the mulch system, which 
means that the trees are grown in sod but with all the grass 
thrown around the trees to a point some distance beyond the 
spread of the limbs. Usually it is wise to increase this mulch 
with additional grass or other litter. No good orchard man 
will cut the grass under his trees and take it away unless he 
replaces it with a liberal application of manure. 

It is well to spray the peach trees this month with lime- 
sulphur wash to prevent peach-leaf curl. 

In the South beans of all kinds, beets, cucumbers, corn, 
squash and pumpkins and melons may be sown. Tomato and 
cabbage plants should be set out in rich ground. People who 
like okra should sow seed in drills at once. All the annual 
flowers may be planted and coleus beds should be set out. 
Coleus cuttings root readily in the open ground. 

GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW GARDEN 

Cinerarias and Chinese primroses may be started from seed 
in April. The former will flower next spring and the latter in 
time for the holidays. Seeds of campanulas for forcing next 
season may also be sown. 

Lilacs, deutzias, bleeding heart and similar plants that have 



78 THE COUNTRY HOME 

been forced under glass may be set in the open when danger of 
frost is over. This is also the time for pla-nting out the house 
azaleas, bougainvilleas and ericas, provided established warm 
weather has come. If grown in a partially shaded place through 
the summer, they will bloom next season. They are best kept 
in their pots, the latter being plunged in well-drained soil. 

Careful watering is required by azaleas. It is best to keep 
the soil just moist. Paris daisies removed from the pot and 
planted out will give some flowers during the summer, but it is 
useless to take them indoors again. The yellow flowered 
genista may be plunged in the garden and grown on until frost. 
It will flower again next season. Cuttings of this plant made 
earlier in the season may be set into the ground and potted up 
in the fall. 

The astilbe, commonly called spirrea, may be planted in a 
partly shaded border after it is through flowering and should 
be left for a year until the following fall. Then it may be 
taken up and forced again. 

A few of the bulbs which have been forced in the window 
garden may be saved. They include freesias and the oxalis. 
Tulips, hyacinths and narcissi grown in the open garden may 
also be stored in a cool, dry place after the foliage ripens and 
will be ready for blooming again the next season. 

In April the golden calla lily (Richardia Elliottiana) bulbs 
should be potted up, rich soil being used. They should then be 



APRIL 79 

left in a cool, dark place until the roots start, perhaps two 
weeks. When brought to the light they will grow rapidly and 
flower in about three months. April is a good month to start 
heliotrope. 

APRIL POULTRY WORK 

Poultry keepers have their hands full in April, caring for 
the newly hatched chicks. Many hens are still allowed to run 
with their broods and when only a few chickens are to be raised 
this plan gives satisfaction. The hen which is mothering chicks 
must be dusted at least once a week with a good lice powder, 
and the coop will require spraying with kerosene or painting 
with a prepared lice exterminator. It is economical of labor to 
use one of these preparations, for one application a season is 
sufficient. 

If the chickens are allowed to run in a garden, it will be 
necessary to confine the hen, while the youngsters are allowed 
their liberty. It is always well, though, to keep the chicks shut 
up when rain is falling and not to give them their liberty while 
the grass is wet with dew while they are small. A small yard 
with roofing paper over it makes a good run for such times. 

When a hen is brooding ducks, a yard of low boards is suf- 
ficient. The hen may be allowed to jump in and out as she 
pleases. Ducklings require less brooding than chickens and 
are soon willing to dispense with their foster mother. 



80 THE COUNTRY HOME 



It is different with guinea chicks. They will follow the hen 
about until they are full grown, often to biddy's obvious annoy- 
ance. Sometimes they will even trail after a cock bird. 

The experiment of brooding chickens with capons has been 
tried, and with a degree of success. The only trouble seems to 
be that the big, slow-moving bird occasionally steps on the 
chicks, with disastrous results. 

In small yards, a hen with chicks may be allowed a certain 
degree of liberty and yet prevented from doing damage if a 
string is attached to one leg, the other end being tied to a ring 
running on a wire stretched between two sticks. 

Chicks which seem to droop are likely to be suffering from 
lice. It is well to use lice powder on them and to touch the tops 
of their heads lightly with grease. 

One advantage of rearing chicks in a brooder lies in the fact 
that the plague of lice is escaped, for a time at least. Brooder 
chicks require more attention than those with hens, however. 
You must not play truant when operating a brooder. The heat 
must be kept equable and feed rations given regularly. None 
of the old-style wooden brooders can successfully care for more 
than fifty chickens, but poultry keepers everywhere are begin- 
ning to use metal hovers of a new type and accommodating from 
1 50 to 1,000 chickens at one time. They, of course, are for men 
and women who raise chickens on a large scale. The amateur 
will naturally stick to the smaller brooders. 



APRIL 81^ 

Chicks should not be removed from the incubator until thor- 
oughly dry. By that time the brooder should be warmed up 
and ready for them. It is best to have the floor covered with 
fine sand and after two or three days a litter of cut clover or 
alfalfa may be added. From 95 to lOO degrees of heat will be 
needed the first week, after which it may gradually be decreased 
at the rate of five degrees a week. A thermometer is necessary, 
yet the heat should be regulated largely by the actions of the 
chickens. If they are found stretched on the floor and panting, 
the temperature is too high; if they are huddled, it is too low. 
When they settle down contentedly, a slight distance apart, 
the poultry keeper knows that they are all right. Plenty of 
ventilation is very important. Neither brooder house nor 
brooder must be kept too tight. 

After a few days, the chicks may be allowed to venture from 
under the hover, but a semi-circular yard of chicken wire will 
be needed, lest they stray away and forget how to get back. 
Following along the wire fence, they will find themselves under 
the hover again. 

There is no reason for making a complex matter of chicken 
feeding. Just as satisfactory results come from simple methods. 
Many people start with hard-boiled eggs. Others use oatmeal 
from the grocery store, fed dry, or rolled oats. Others mix the 
eggs and the oats, softening the mixture slightly with warm 
water. Bread soaked in milk, but with the milk partly squeezed 



82 THE COUNTRY HOME 

out, makes an ideal ration for the first few days. Milk, either 
sweet or sour, is always good for growing chicks. 

Most people like to fuss with their chickens a little at first, 
but in point of fact, it is perfectly safe to begin feeding a good 
commercial chick feed the second day, without any prelimi- 
naries. No food of any kind is needed for 36 hours, as the chick 
is nourished by the yolk of the egg, which is absorbed just before 
the shell is broken. The ready-mixed chick feeds are convenient, 
but not indispensable. Cracked wheat and corn will answer. 
Some good breeders feed bran after the first week, keeping it 
before the chickens at all times. At the end of the second week, 
ten per cent of beef scraps is added. The commercial dry 
mashes contain a wider variety, but are more expensive. The 
chicks should have coarse sand or fine grit always at hand, with 
water in abundance, but the drinking vessel should be one that 
the little birds cannot climb into. There are many good foun- 
tains on the market, but a flower saucer, with a brick in the 
middle, will answer the purpose. 

It is important that young chickens have plenty of green 
food, tender grass, lettuce or sprouted oats, the latter when 
nothing else is available. If they have the run of a grass plot, 
they will get their green stuff first hand. Often the chicks are 
kept in small, covered runs on grass land, the runs being moved 
their width every day or two. When sprouted oats are fed 
chickens, the sprouts should not be over an inch long. 



APRIL 83 

Bread soaked in milk and sprinkled with coarse sand is a 
good first ration for ducklings. After three days gradual shift 
may be made to a soft mash consisting of four parts bran, one 
part ground oats, one part cornmeal, two parts of green stuif 
and one part of beef scraps. This mash is of the proper con- 
sistency when it will crumble in the hands. Sloppy mashes 
for hens or ducks are quite out of date. Poultrymen of today 
wonder how their grandmothers succeeded in raising chickens 
on cornmeal mush. Ducklings will appreciate a generous 
amount of waste green stuff from the garden. It is well to feed 
both chickens and ducks five times a day at first, but after four 
weeks, three times a day will be sufficient. 

There are no arbitrary rules about feeding ducks. I have 
often used dry oatflakes scattered on the grass when I wanted 
to be away for half a day. A neighboring breeder raises his 
Indian Runner ducks entirely on dry commercial mash, the 
same mash he feeds his laying hens. He seldom loses any and 
they thrive mightily. Different treatment is needed, of course, 
for Pekin ducks being grown for market. They must be pushed 
with heavy feeding, and fattened largely on beef scraps. Rouen 
and Muscovy ducks are perhaps better meat birds for the coun- 
try home. They are easy to raise, and the Muscovys have no 
quack, like other ducks. They are strong flyers, though, and 
their wings must be clipped. Five weeks, instead of four, are 
required for hatching Muscovy duck eggs. 



84 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Broilers are most in demand this month and next. 

Pheasants begin to lay this month and are best provided 
with sheltered nests, perhaps barrels or boxes with a few 
branches thrown over them. The eggs may be removed and 
given to bantam hens to incubate, but four or live should always 
be left in the nest. 

Guinea eggs may be set this month, preferably toward the 
latter part. Guinea fowls are well worth raising for the meat 
they produce; there is no better substitute for game. These 
birds may be allowed full liberty, except, perhaps, in the spring, 
when they are laying, for they will do no damage in the garden, 
but on the contrary eat many bugs. Turkeys need free range, 
but should be kept shut in at night. Eggs laid this month are 
best incubated by hens. 

LIVESTOCK AND BEES 

The calves need warm, dry pens and plenty of skim milk. 
When separators are used, the skim milk may be fed direct to 
the calves. If milk is scarce, hay tea may be gradually sub- 
stituted. 

It is well to look to the feet of the colts before they are 
turned out. Often they grow very fast in winter and leveling 
up is needed now. 

Farrowing sows require comfortable quarters and dry pens 
are necessary for the growing pigs. 



APRIL 85 

April is the month to purchase bees. It is best to buy them 
near home, if a good bee farmer can be found, but the bees may 
be sent safely by express. One should read up on the subject 
before taking up the keeping of bees. The work is not so simple 
as it often is made to seem. At any rate, an investment of more 
than $25" is not advised until the bees have begun to pay their 
way. This is not to suggest that the keeping of bees should not 
be rndertaken. On the contrary, no country home is complete 
without a colony or two. A strong colony in a ten-frame hive 
will cost from eight to twelve dollars. Gloves, veil, a smoker 
and a hive tool may be ordered at the same time. They will be 
needed from the first. 

Early April is also the month to examine bees in the estab- 
lished apiary. If a colony has been winter killed, the combs 
may be removed to another hive. New queens must be ordered 
for colonies found to be without queens. Weak colonies will 
need feeding on a syrup made of one part of granulated sugar 
to two parts of water. The water should be warm and the 
sugar thoroughly dissolved. Feeders may be purchased, but a 
shallow pan from the ten-cent store is just as good. It should 
be partly filled with excelsior for the bees to travel on and 
placed in the top of the hive, under the winter cushion in the 
super. 

The bees will need water, and if none is near by, a pan of 
water with chips floating on it may be set near the hives. 



MAT 

''Among the changing months May stands confessed 
T^he sweetest, and in fairest colors dressed!' — T^hompson. 



■V 







M 



MAY 

AY is the month of blossoming shrubs and the busiest 
month of all the year, to the maker of gardens, particu- 
larly in the northern parts of the country, where frosts 
linger. Not that planting monopolizes the time and labor of 
the garden maker. Many other duties, too, crowd thick upon 
the owner of a country home. Often it is impossible to repair 
the walks until the settled weather of May has come. Yet this 
is very necessary work. Sometimes the only way to get a per- 
fect walk is to use tile drain a foot or two under the surface. 
Whether a walk is of brick or cement, it is important to have a 
good foundation of cinders. It is a waste of money to lay a 
cement walk unless perfect drainage is provided for. The ashes 
from the furnace make an excellent walk or drive when covered 
with gravel. 

If the fences are old, it is economy to replace them little by 
little each spring, using modern wire fencing. Cedar, locust or 
chestnut posts should be chosen and it is well to dip the lower 
ends into tar or some prepared preservative before they go into 
the ground. 

It pays to top-dress the fields with good reliable grass fer- 
tilizer, which should go on early in the spring, preferably just 

[89] 



90 THE COUNTRY HOME 

before a rain. This is the month to seed timothy. Many field 
crops can go into the ground this month, but it is useless to sow 
or plant before there is a prospect of settled weather with the 
ground fairly dry. If manure is spread on the surface, it should 
be thoroughly plowed in, but not deeply when the crop is to be 
corn or anything else with a shallow root growth. A combined 
seeder and manure spreader is a very useful implement. On all 
large farms the manure spreader has come to be almost indis- 
pensable. 

It is a great mistake to turn out stock too early. If the 
ground is wet it will be badly cut up and grass is injured by too 
early cropping. 

IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 

Much depends upon location and season, but some time in 
the course of May practically all the annuals may be planted 
in the open ground. Likewise, those that have been started in 
boxes in the house or in cold frames may be set out, provided 
they have been properly hardened oif . 

Among the best annuals for the average garden are nas- 
turtiums, godetias, petunias, Drummond's phlox, four o'clocks, 
annual gaillardias, pot marigolds, scabiosa, zinnias, sweet 
alyssum, candytuft, cosmos, poppies, larkspurs, mignonette, 
nicotiana (tobacco plant), portulaca, salpiglossis, ten-week 
stocks and night-blooming stocks (mathiola) . 



MAY 91^ 

There will be an abundance of bloom from all these flowers, 
if started in May. Several of them are particularly well 
adapted to special purposes. The poppies are almost unrivaled 
for beds or borders of brilliant colors and many of the newer 
sorts are wonderfully attractive. It will be necessary to make 
successive sowings in order to have flowers all summer. 

The pot marigolds and portulacas are the best annuals for 
filling in empty spots in the beds. It is well to grow a number 
of plants for this purpose. They may be transplanted in mid- 
summer and when budded without causing them to stop 
blooming. 

The portulacas are unsurpassed for exposed, sunny places, 
where the soil is sandy. They will flourish where almost no 
other flower will grow. It is useless, however, to plant the seed 
until warm weather comes. 

When one wants a garden of sweet odors, the flowers to 
choose are the night-blooming stocks, which are not at all good 
to look upon while daylight lasts, but become delightful as soon 
as the shadows have deepened into night; nicotiana, another 
night-blooming flower of enchanting sweetness; mignonette, 
which requires successive sowings and likes a cool soil; scabiosa 
or mourning bride, one of the best annuals for cut flowers, and 
the annual wallflower. 

There are many excellent perennials, started plants of which 
may be purchased at the seed stores and set out in May. They 



92 THE COUNTRY HOME 

include larkspur, phlox, dictamus or gas plant, lily of the val- 
ley, Japanese anemone or windflower, tufted pansy, hemerocal- 
lis or day lily, and digitalis or foxglove. The tufted pansy will 
bloom the first season, as should the day lily; the larkspurs pos- 
sibly may. 

One of the very best garden flowers is antirrhinum or snap- 
dragon, a perennial which usually is grown as an annual. Early 
blossoms are secured by sowing the seeds indoors, but there will 
be an abundance of flowers when a sowing is made in the open 
ground in May. There are few more persistent bloomers, 
remaining in flower until frost comes. The snapdragons will 
grow in partial shade and are almost unexcelled as cut flowers. 

Climbing roses may be planted to good advantage in May 
and some of the new sorts are remarkably fine. They bid fair 
to supplant the old-fashioned Crimson Rambler, which is quite 
undesirable after the blooming season is over, because of its 
untidy habits. Among the best climbers are these : Hiawatha, 
Clothilde Soupert, Climbing American Beauty, Tausendschon, 
Dorothy Perkins and Sweetheart. Several of the new climbers, 
including the American Beauty and Sweetheart, have consid- 
erable fragrance, a quality which has been rare in climbers 
heretofore. 

There is no better time to plant hardy vines than early in 
May. Some of the best varieties for the country home are 
actinidia, a fragrant Japanese climber, excellent for covering 



MAY 93 

arbors and trellises; Aristolochia, or Dutchman's Pipe, probably 
the best of all vines for making a complete screen, the large, 
heart-shaped leaves overlapping; Virginia creeper; clematis, 
both Henryi and Jackmanni, the latter having violet purple 
flowers; the hop vine; Chinese wistaria and Hall's honey- 
suckle. The latter is a particularly good vine because it yields 
a profusion of white flowers and also because it keeps its glossy 
green foliage until late in winter. Two good climbers besides 
the well-known nasturtium and morning-glory for annual 
planting are Cobea scandens and the matrimony vine. 

Late in May in most sections dahlias may be planted. These 
flowers have come into great popularity of late years and the 
cactus and decorative types are particularly fine. The Pompon 
varieties, however, are unrivaled for cutting. Dahlias do not 
need very rich soil, but the ground should be thoroughly pre- 
pared and the tubers should be placed on their sides, not 
upright, in a trench six inches deep, with two inches of soil over 
them, the trench being filled as the plants grow. Dahlias need 
a free circulation of air so that the rows should be from three to 
four feet apart and the plants from two and a half to three and 
a half feet apart in the row. 

Many lilies may be planted in May. They like a sandy soil 
but may be deceived by running a little sand into the bottom of 
the hole where they are to go. Deep planting, from eight to 
ten inches, should be the rule. 



94 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Tuberous rooted begonias, started in the house, may be set 
in the open ground before the end of the month. They will 
grow in complete shade but are rather particular as to soil, which 
must be porous and rich. Spading a little well rotted cow 
manure and sand into the ground is a help. 

Such shrubs as forsythia and early-blooming spirea may be 
pruned as soon as they have blossomed, the branches that bore 
the flowers being cut away. 

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 

The planting of vegetables begun last month may be con- 
tinued right through May, although with due regard to weather 
conditions. There is absolutely no advantage in the planting 
of such warm weather crops as beans, cucumbers, squashes and 
melons before the ground is warm. The seeds will only rot. 
Usually corn may be planted safely after the middle of the 
month. There are two ways of having a succession. One is to 
plant early, medium and late kinds at the same time; the other 
is to make successive sowings of an early kind. Many people 
are coming to depend entirely upon Golden Bantam, a yellow 
sort, but of unsurpassed sweetness and flavor. 

Lima beans are very tender and must not be started until 
late in the month. Time may be gained by starting the beans 
in strawberry boxes or paper pots indoors or in a cold frame. 
They are to go into the ground on their sides and with eyes down. 



MAY 95 

All beans are of the easiest culture and do not need verv 
rich ground. Poultry manure should be avoided, as it tends to 
produce a rank growth of leaves instead of fruit. Successive 
sowings of bush beans will be needed, but the pole varieties will 
continue to bear until frost. When planting them, it is best 
to put some well-rotted manure at the bottom of the hole. Poles, 
which preferably should have the bark on, are easily set if the 
hole is first made with a crowbar. Six feet apart is near enough 
for the holes and the plants should be thinned to three to each 
pole. Kentucky Wonder or Lazy Wife is perhaps the most 
prolific and most satisfactory pole string bean. Probably the 
Dwarf Horticultural is the best shell bean, and of the dwarf 
string beans there is nothing better than Stringless Greenpod. 

Parsley may be sown early, but it is wise to soak the seeds in 
warm water a few hours to hasten germination. Peppers sown 
now will yield a late crop. 

The late crop of potatoes is commonly planted shortly after 
the corn goes in. It is now possible to buy eyes instead of whole 
potatoes; a box of these eyes is enough to plant a small garden 
and may be sent by parcel post. Seeds of late cabbage and cau- 
liflower may be sown in the cold frames or in a seed bed. Both 
these vegetables require the richest garden soil. New land is 
well suited to them. Like most crops of this character, they 
need an abundance of nitrogenous plant food, and poultry 
manure is good for them. Another sowing of peas, lettuce and 



96 THE COUNTRY HOME 

radishes should he made. Pr()hal)ly the variety of lettuce which 
is most certain to head imder all conditions is Bi^ Boston. Let- 
tuce needs to he prown very (juickly if it is to he crisp. It is 
helped alon;^ hy nitrate of soda, which is valuahlc tor torcm*; all 
leaf crops. It may he used at the rate of two ounces tor twenty 
feet, sowinpj it in the soil hut not allowing it to touch the plants. 
If the season is dry and water is not easily applied, the fertilizer 
may he dissolved in water at the rate of two ounces to a gallon 
of water and given hy means of a watering can. 

Late in the month, as a rule, the cucmiihers, melons and 
squashes may he planted. It is of great advantage to start them 
under garden frames, which are merely hoxes with a light of 
glass on top. A week or two may he gained in this way, while 
the tender plants are also protected from an unexpected frost. 
In order (o make these vegetahles hear ahundantly, they nuist 
he fertili/.cd liherally; a hig shovelful of manure in each hole 
is none too much. 

It is an excellent plan to start cucumhers in the hotheds or 
cold frames after tlic early ]ilants have heen removed and to 
let them remain there. They will feed on the manure in the 
heds and produce enormously. Prohahly White Spine is the 
hest all-round variety. 

For watermelons, the one kind to he depended upon in the 
North is Cole's L^.arly. For muskmelons there is nothing hetter 
than Montreal Nutmeg and Emerald Gem. People who like 



MAY 97 

scjuash should cxpcriniont with ihc l^]n<;lish Marrows, wliith in 
many respects are to he preferred to the orihnary summer 
scjuashes. For winter s(|uash there is nothing better, of course, 
than tlie old-fashioned Iluhhard. 

It is imperative that the garden he given constant cultiva- 
tion at this season in order to keep tlie soil Idled with moisture, 
which is even more important than keeping down weeds. If 
there seems to be lack of fertility and manure is not available 
in suflicient (juantities, it is well to use a certain amount of all- 
round garden fertilizer at planting time, depending upon 
nitrate of soda after the plants have started. In many cases an 
equal mixture of hardwood ashes and bone meal will give good 
results. 

It is always advisable to test a new garden for acidity. This 
is easily done with a ])ie(e of blue litnms pajur from the drug 
store. The paper is thrust into a handful of sod which has been 
slightly moistened. If the paj)er turns red, it is an unmistaka- 
l)le inclication of an acid soil, the degree depending uf)()n the 
intensity of the coloring. I he remedy for an acid soil is, of 
course, lime, which maybe bought at the seed stores or of dealers 
in fertilizers. It may be used at the rate of from ^00 to 1,^^00 
{)()unds to the acre. In a small garden a peck of lime to twenty 
feet of a row will be right. 

Doubtless fly beetles will show up before the end of May, 
working havoc with the melons, s(]uashes, cucumbers and pota- 



98 THE COUNTRY HOME 

toes that arc up. Dusting the plants with ashes or soot will help 
to keep this pest away. Oftentimes boxes covered with fly net- 
ting or nnislin are used as a protection. 

Celery for the late crop may be started in a seed betl now and 
set out in July. Tt is always an adxantage to transj)lant celery 
several times, in order to keep (he tap roots short. Probably the 
best varieties for winter use are i^oston Market and Giant 
Pascal. Early ( clery plants may be purchased and set out late 
in the month, (lohlen Self I^>hnuhing and White Plume are 
the best varieties. 

MVKSTOCMs. AND rOULTRY 

This is the month for the cattle to be turned into the pas- 
tures. Even the calves are benefited by being aHowed to run in 
the liehls. It is not to be expected, though, that grass will 
answer entirely for milch cows. The grain ration must be 
reduced very gradually. Some hay will still be needed. 

Tt is not wise to allow horses on new grass for more than a 
few hoiu'S at a time when first turned out. Wherever there is 
plenty of pasture land, it is profitable to raise a colt or two 
ea( h year. 

Removing the shoes from the work horses while they are 
being used in the fields in the spring is beneficial. 

If the weather turns bad and the horses must be kept in the 
stable, it is well to reduce the amount of feed. 



MAY 99 

Broody hens become a nuisance unless broken up at once. 
Nothing is gained by dipping them in the watering trough or 
otherwise abusing them. The proper phm involves the con- 
struction of a little elevated coop, raised from the floor and with 
slatted sides and bottom. In such a coop the sitting hen will 
soon become normal, particularly if imprisoned there as soon as 
her broodiness is discovered. 

If to be used for hatching eggs, the sitting hen should be 
removed at night and placed in the nest in which the eggs are 
to be incubated. If a nestegg is given her and she is found the 
next morning to be sitting tight, she may be depended upon to 
stick. A well-made nest for a sitting hen is flat and shallow, 
with a rim of hay or straw to confine the eggs. When the nest 
is so shaped that the eggs roll to the middle, some of them are 
likely to be broken. If an egg is broken and the others are 
smeared, it is necessary to wipe them off at once with a cloth 
dipped in warm water. 

It is a mistake to keep growing chickens of different sizes 
together; the smaller chicks will suffer. If hens and chickens 
are running together, a crate with slatted sides just wide enough 
for the chickens to pass through may be set over the water and 
feed dishes of the latter. In that way the hens will be excluded. 

Keeping chickens and ducklings together is poor policy, 
unless they have wide range. Ducklings foul the ground very 
quickly and make the drinking water dirty. 



100 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Although no water to swim in is required by ducks or duck- 
lings, their drinking dishes must be deep enough so that they 
can wholly immerse their bills. Otherwise the nostrils will 
become clogged with food and mud and the birds will be in 
danger of suffocation. Pekin ducklings need watching. They 
sometimes get on their backs and are unable to regain their feet. 

Brush heaps where the chickens may seek shelter will lessen 
the losses from hawks. Guinea fowls do good service in scaring 
these birds away. 

One pound of Dwarf Essex rape will seed a quarter acre and 
provide enough green food for a large flock until fall. The tops 
are broken off and new growth springs up. 

Before the incubator is put away for the season, it should be 
thoroughly cleaned and scalded with hot water. It is good prac- 
tice to wash it out with a strong disinfectant. 

Turkey poults must not be allowed to run in the morning 
until the grass is dry and must be confined on wet days. This 
is true of pheasants, also. Turkeys must be kept out of the wet 
until they weigh seven or eight pounds. Turkeys are not hard 
to raise if certain essentials are not overlooked. To keep them 
dry and in perfectly dry coops is of prime importance. It is 
equally important to keep them free from lice. They must have 
a plentiful supply of green food, preferably lettuce, and shade 
in the middle of the day. Sour milk is valuable and may be 
given freely. 



MAY 101 

Bread soaked in milk and given a dash of red pepper is 
excellent for starting the young turkeys. Three times a day is 
not too often to feed lettuce, and there should be grit and char- 
coal always at hand, as well as fresh water. When four or five 
weeks old the poults will shoot the red, and need particular 
attention then, especially the females. A raw egg beaten up in 
milk is of value. Once this critical period is over, the turkeys 
will make rapid growth. 

When there are permanent yards for the poultry, it is well 
to grow a few fruit trees in them. Plums are best for the pur- 
pose; poultry manure pushes peach trees too fast. Plum trees 
grow quickly and provide adequate shade, while the hens 
devour the curculio, the pest which makes holes in the fruit. 
Jarring the trees in the early morning helps. 

Chicks hatched early this month should make good winter 
layers if kept growing steadily through the summer. 

When the breeding season is over, it is time to get rid of the 
old male birds. 

THE month's work WITH BEES 

Swarming will keep the bee farmer alert this month. Some 
swarming is desirable for increase, but often far too many 
swarms issue. This may be prevented to a considerable extent 
by giving the bees plenty of room and putting ''supers" on the 
hives early. A frame of brood may be taken from a strong 



102 THE COUNTRY HOME 

colony and given to a weaker one, being replaced with a frame 
carrying a full sheet of foundation. It is well to have the sec- 
tions in the "super" filled with foundation, as more honey is 
secured. The bees require ten pounds of honey to make a pound 
of wax. 

When a swarm does issue, the old hive should be set to one 
side. A new hive with full sheets of foundation should then be 
placed under the cluster, wherever it may have formed, and a 
sheet spread in front of it, so that when the swarm is dislodged, 
it will fall on the sheet. Usually the queen will run in at once 
and the rest of the bees will follow. The hive may be at once 
set on the stand occupied by the old hive and the bees in the 
field will naturally mingle with the swarm on their return. It 
is well to put on a "super" at once, for the hive will be filled 
now with lively young bees ready for work. 

Sometimes a swarm catcher is used, in which case the new 
hive is placed on its stand at once and the sheet spread in front. 
The bees are then brought back and dumped on the sheet. 

If the owner of the bees can not keep close watch of them, 
he will find it an advantage to use a queen trap, which is 
attached to the front of the hive at the entrance. The worker 
bees are able to pass through, but it will hold the drones and the 
queen. After the swarm comes forth and finds that the queen 
is not with them, they will come circling back, but the queen 
will be secure. The bee keeper's work is to shift the hives as 



MAY 1 03 

already described and then to release the queen at the entrance 
of the new hive. In this way all the labor of capturing the 
swarms is avoided. Occasionally the trap should be removed 
and emptied of dead drones. 



JUNE 

'June, and the garden ivith roses is red; 
Da2sies of silver in meadows are spread. 
Roses and daisies! T^he lark in the sky, 
Loveliest of any is June's month, say /." — Anon. 



JUNE 

JUNE is the month of birds and poets. The latter can look 
out for themselves, no doubt, but it is well worth while 
coaxing the birds a little in order that we may have them 
as friendly neighbors around our country homes. Much may be 
done to attract the birds by putting up shelters and bird houses. 
This work must be done with an intelligent understanding of 
the likes and dislikes of our feathered friends or your time will 
be wasted. Some birds will not occupy boxes at all, while others 
will accept only those of a certain character. Several concerns 
are now making inexpensive bird homes, based on a complete 
understanding of what is needed. 

Oftentimes there will be a decided increase in bird life on a 
country place, if an attempt is made to protect the songsters 
from cats and other marauding creatures. When the bird houses 
are on poles, the cats will not be able to reach them, if a sheet of 
tin two feet wide is tacked entirely around the pole. Sometimes 
it is possible to place the sheets of tin around small trees where 
there are nests. English sparrows are a great pest and have a 
tendency to drive away all the native birds. The owner of a 
country home should have no compunctions in shooting as many 

as possible. An easy way to destroy large numbers of these 

[ 107 ] ■ 



108 THE COUNTRY HOME 

birds is to construct a V-shaped trough ten feet long with a shot- 
gun resting in one end. If the trough is partly filled with corn, 
the sparrows will be attracted to it and the gun may be dis- 
charged by means of a string leading to some point of conceal- 
ment. The result is sure to be heavy slaughter. Bird traps 
now on the market are effective in exterminating sparrows. 

Bird baths are a delightful garden accessory. They may be 

m 

sliallow pans set in the ground or more pretentious cement foun- 
tains. Unless it has a sloping bottom, the bird bath should not 
be more than two inches deep, and when it is set into the ground 
it is safer for the birds to have no plants or grass growing close 
around it, where cats may find concealment. An elevated bird 
bath is preferable, for then the birds are not easily attacked, 
while it is easy to observe them at their al^lutions. 

June is a busy month for the farmer and the garden maker. 
There yet remains much planting to be done and continual 
stirring of the ground is of the utmost importance. The lawn 
should be mowed at least once a week and the clippings left 
where they fall. If a longer period elapses it is better to rake 
up the clippings. Some people make it a point to save all the 
lawn clippings for their poultry. Either they feed them green 
or else spread them on a piece of burlap until they are dry 
enough to crackle when touched, and then store them in barrels 
for winter. 

This is an excellent month for sowing millet, field beans. 



JUNE 109 

fodder corn, turnips and rutabagas. Japanese millet is an excel- 
lent crop for the northern farmer to grow, making useful fodder 
for milch cows, both green and when dried. It will grow on 
comparatively damp ground and should be planted at the rate 
of twenty pounds to the acre, the seed being harrowed in. 

Corn planted in June should be heavily fertilized; in fact, 
it is not often that the ground is made too rich for corn. Fer- 
tilizer may be used in the hill and also broadcasted. The prac- 
tice of hilling up or ridging corn and potatoes is largely being 
given up, but cultivation is continued as long as possible and 
this cultivation should begin even before the plants appear 
above the surface, using a light harrow. It is an old saying that 
tillage is manure. 

Late potatoes may be planted this month and it is well to 
place the seed as close as twelve or fourteen inches in the row, 
if thorough cultivation can be given. Potato bugs are likely 
to appear in force and the plants must be sprayed or dusted with 
a poison of some kind. Arsenate of lead has largely replaced 
Paris green because it sticks better. When the potato patch is 
small, one of the proprietary poisons like Slug Shot or Bug 
Death may be dusted on the plants while they are wet with rain 
or dew. A coffee can with a few holes punched in the bottom 
makes a good duster. 

Two crops which are growing in favor are soja or soy beans 
and cow-peas. Both are legumes, which means that they take 



no THE COUNTRY HOME 

iiitroiren ivom the air aiui thus imnrcn o the si>il whoro thov are 
crown. The cow -pea docs licst m the South and the so} bean 
in the North, ^he^■ are >aluahU^ as fodder and as eo\er erops 
and often are sown anioui;- eorn at the hist eultivation. Rotli 
these ereips are w ell worth i::row m^ tor nnprox m^ poor land. 

.\nother er(>p whieh should have a ]^laee wherever it can be 
^rown is alfalfa. C^nee started, it niaA' be eut for inan\' years, 
will ) ield tw o or more erops a season and possesses hii;h feeding 
value. I'^Tifortunatel}-, it is not always easy to ^et alfalfa to 
grow . It must have a hospitable soil, whieh means that it must 
be deep and sweet. As a rule, a heavy application of manure is 
needed to prepare the ground and it is impossible to make the 
seed bed too fine. 

Such preparation of the ground as is given for ordinary 
erops will not suffice, and weeds must be practicalh' extermi- 
nateei before the seed is sown. In addition, either the soil or 
the seed must be inocul'ated and lime is required. 

There are preparations on the market in which the seed 
may be soaked, or soil from alfalfa land ma)- be purchased. 
Starting an alfalfa field is not an easy task, but the results are 
well worth all the time and effort. 

In many sections hayins; will besjin h\ the end of tiie month. 
It is always well to cut clover as early as possible, for then there 
is an excellent prospect of getting a satisfactory second crop in 
September. 



JUNE m 

ORCHARD AND SMALL FRUITS 

Perhaps the most important work to be done in June is 
spraying. ()nt experiment station lias emphasized this fact by 
senciing out a f)oster with this title in large letters, "Let Us 
Spray." Just as the blossoms fall from the fruit trees, these 
trees should be Thorcmghly covered with a combination of Bor- 
deaux mixture and arsenate of lead. When the amount of work 
to be done is not large, a ready-mixed poison may be purchased 
and for a few trees a powerful bucket spray pump will answer. 
Spraying the apple trees at this time will kill the codling-moth 
and at the same time the tent caterpillar. It is poor policy to 
use the spray until the blossoms fall, however, for otherwise 
many bees will be sacrificed and the bees are needed to pollenize 
the Howers. 

It is well to spray all the fruit trees with this same poison, 
for various pests are destroyed by that means, while the Bor- 
deaux in the mixture is effectual in overcoming scab, an- 
thracnose and rust. J'he regular Bordeaux mixture may be 
used to advantage on the grapevines and in the berry patch. 
While one is about it, it takes but little time to spray the orna- 
mental shrubs and trees, as well, and the result is likely to be 
beneficial. 

Many seasons, aphids or plant lice of various kinds and 
colors are exceedingly abundant. Their presence is indicated 



112 THE COUNTRY HOME 

by the curling of the leaves and they must be taken in hand 
early, because it is difficult to get rid of them if the leaves 
become tightly curled. Spraying with kerosene emulsion is 
effectual. This preparation is easily emulsified by running it 
through the spray pump or by using a common bicycle pump. 
Of late there has been a growing tendency to use one of the 
several nicotine preparations, which are very much more con- 
venient and are fully as effective. They come in liquid form 
and it is only necessary to dilute them. These preparations 
may be made use of in the flower garden, greenhouse or any-^ 
where else that plant lice appear. When these lice are found on 
foliage trees, about the grounds, most of them may be washed 
away by turning a vigorous stream from the hose against the 
under part of the leaves. 

If the currant and gooseberry bushes are not watched, the 
currant worm is likely to steal a march on the garden maker, for 
this pest begins his work near the bottom of the plant and often 
is not discovered until the leaves are well riddled. Hellebore 
is commonly used to fight this fellow, although arsenate of lead 
is sometimes sprayed on the plants before the fruit forms. If 
the plants are thoroughly dusted with hellebore (which must 
be fresh) mixed with one-third flour, while the dew is yet on the 
leaves, the career of the currant worm will be ended in short 
order. It is well, however, to watch for a second brood a few 
weeks later. 



JUNE m 

Raspberry plants are likely to be attacked by borers this 
month and a sharp lookout for them should be kept up. It is a 
good plan to cut off and burn all canes in which the borer has 
been at work. If there are any wild cherry trees around the 
place they may be expected to harbor tent caterpillars and 
should either be sprayed or cut down. In case the young orchard 
is not in sod or crops, cultivation once a week will be needed. 
In sod land the trees should be at least dug around frequently. 
Grass cut in a well-kept orchard is never removed but is used to 
mulch the trees; unless, indeed, large quantities of stable 
manure be substituted. 

Water sprouts should be removed from all trees before they 
have grown two inches. No tree can afford to support a crop 
of useless sprouts. It is still possible to regraft fruit trees, if 
good scions have been preserved. The scions should be soaked 
until plump before they are inserted. 

Newly set trees will need watching and buds which start 
at a point where limbs obviously will not be wanted should be 
rubbed off, but this thumb pruning is likely to be found more 
important the second year. As a rule, no cutting will be needed 
except where trees are well grown. It is seldom that pruning 
of any kind is demanded by plums and cherries. Many cherries 
will be picked in June and care should be taken not to bruise the 
trees or to break off fruit spurs, as the latter will give the next 
season's crop. 



114 THE COUNTRY HOME 

As soon as the strawl^erry bed ceases bearing, it should be 
(horou^'Jily cultivated and a bed over two years old ought to 
be ph)vved up and planted to late vegetables. New plants may 
be made by using strong runners, setting them into small pots 
sunk into the ground until they have made good root growth. 

IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 

Dahlias and cannas may be set out early in the month. It is 
an advantage to start cannas indoors a few weeks earlier and 
it is not a bad plan to sprout the dahlias. The dahlia clumps 
should be scj)aratcd anyway, allowing a good eye to each piece, 
and they may be easily started in moss or peat in a box or on 
the cellar floor, using a moderate amount of water. In this way 
it is possible to weed out all |)()or roots, only those which have 
started being planted. 

All the annuals may be sown with perfect confidence this 
month. This is an excellent time, also, to start perennials tor 
blooming next season. The seed may be planted in a special 
seed bed or an imoccupied cold frame may be taken for the 
purj)()se. It is still possible to set out potted perennials from 
the seed stores. This may be done, in fact, up to the first of 
July, if the plants are kept well watered. Late asters set out 
this month should have a small handful of ashes placed around 
the roots to keep away the root aphis, and should not be watered 
freely until they begin to flower. 



JUNE \_[^ 

All tlie early liowcring shrubs should bo pruned as soon as 
they have ceased blossoming. The more new wood, the better 
the display next year. 

The bulbs of April Howering tulips may be lifted and stored 
in the cellar to ripen. It is nnich better to leave the cottage 
or May Howering tulips m the ground, planting some shallow 
rooted annuals, like pot marigolds or portulacas, over them. 

It is well to spray the roses once or twice this month with 
potassium sul|)hide to prevent mildew and black spot. Nico- 
tine is as valuable as any remedy for keeping down aphis, and 
probably the best way to get rid of rose bugs is to pick them off. 

IN Tin- VEGETABLE GARDEN 

Bush beans and sweet corn should be planted twice in June 
in order to provide a long succession. Lettuce may be sown at 
any time and the careful gardener uses this salad plant to iill 
in vacant spaces. As the weather gets hot, lettuce needs shad- 
ing at first and an abundance of water. 

The winter beets and turnips may be planted this month 
and the beets may be transplanted freely if most of the tops 
are cut off and plenty of water given. Beets do not recjuire as 
much thinning as some of the other root crops and in the home 
garden may be thinned out in such a way as to give beet greens 
for the table. Although sweet corn was sown last month, there 
is no need to plant pop-corn until June. 



116 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Winter pumpkins and squashes will have plenty of time for 
growing, if planted this month. It is a common and excel- 
lent practice to grow pumpkins among the corn. Welsh onions 
planted now will give tine bunching onions next spring at a 
time when they will be highly prized. 

New Zealand spinach should be better known. It is not 
really a spinach at all, but makes a lirst class midsummer sub- 
stitute for that favorite vegetable. 

As soon as the pea and bean vines cease to bear they should 
be pulled up and burned, thus leaving the ground free for a 
later crop, which may be cabbages, celery, rutabagas or man- 
gels. People who keep hens often make it a point to plant man- 
gels for winter feeding. Another good crop for the poultry 
keeper to grow in the garden is Dwarf Essex rape, which will 
be large enough to feed in five or six weeks and may be fed 
continuously from the same plot of ground, as new tops develop 
when the old leaves are pulled off. The same plan may be 
used with Swiss chard, a very useful vegetable for the small 
garden. The leaves boiled are a good substitute for spinach 
and the midribs may be cooked in the same way as asparagus, 
having much the same flavor. 

Late in the month celery plants may be set out, whether 
home grown or purchased. Celery is not hard to grow if a few 
important points are remembered. It needs good rich soil to 
begin with but will stand a little shade. Much is gained if the 



JUNE 117 

ground is saturated with water to a depth of several inches be- 
fore the plants are set out. Modern gardeners allow water to 
run on the celery plot for a whole day and this is a much better 
plan than applying water afterwards. When the plants go into 
the ground, the roots should be cut back perhaps one-third. 

It is a common practice to plant celery in trenches, but there 
is another method which may be followed to advantage in the 
home garden and with less work. The plants are placed some- 
what closely together and the soil around them made very firm; 
then fresh horse manure is spread around the plants to a depth 
of two inches, but not allowed to touch the stalks. The manure 
will act as a mulch, conserving all the moisture in the ground, 
besides feeding the plants generously as they grow. 

Tomato plants may still be set out. If the plants are at all 
spindling, it is wise to make a little trench in the ground and 
to bury a part of the stalk in this trench, along with the roots. 
New rootlets will be thrown out all along the part of the stalk 
under ground, producing a much stronger plant. Early fruit 
is secured by training the plants on poles or trellises. When 
poles are used, it is the practice to pinch out the laterals, forcing 
the growth into the main stem. Fewer but better tomatoes are 
secured in this way. On the whole, however, there is no better 
plan than to make an A-shaped trellis over which the vines can 
climb, plants being set on each side. Spraying with Bordeaux 
mixture will prevent tomato rot. 



118 THE COUNTRY I lOMR 



H cutting asp:ir:i<];iis has ceased, the hcd should he li<;htly 
|)h)\v<'(l and tlioroughl y cultivated, after which it should receive 
a hheial a|)|)licatioii of commercial feitili/.er with an e(|ual 
amount oj kainit. 

Cutworms are pretty certain to he nuich in eviclence and the 
amateur often is pu/'/.led how to (hal with them, l^rohahly the 
hest way to protect all ve<j;etal)le plants is to thrust a (olhir 
made of stiff |)a|)er into the <j;r()und around them. It should 
extend two inches heneath the surface and two or three ahox c. 
When phmts are set out in paper pots or dirt hands, they will 
not need other protection. If the garden is a large one and 
this pest numerous, it may he necessary to use poison hait, which 
consists of lettuce leaves di|)ped in Paris green or arsenate of 
lead and scattered among the growing crops. This plan nat- 
urally IS to he a\()uh'tl where there are chihlrcai or poultry. 

T.TVFSTOCK AND POTTTTRY 



Many men who grow lamhs mark them at weaning time. 
Punching the ear is a good way. 

This is a good time to select hrood sows from early litters. 
They should he heavy honeil and vigorous ami it is well to 
make sure they have twelve teats. A pasture hy themsehes is 
hest for them. 

Pigs grow well on Dwarf Essex ra[)e and skim milk, with 
some middlings added. 



JUNE M9 

Horses as well as cows need salt. Tlie cows may have theirs 
in the pasture, but a salt cake in the stall is tlie best way to 
accommodate the horse. 

The horse will rest better if the harness, including the col- 
lar, is taken off when he comes in to feed. When the horse 
comes in at the end of the day his eyes, nose, dock and the inside 
of his hind (juarters should be sponged. 

It is not wise to f^ive ^rain to a tired horse. A nuich better 
plan is to water him and then let him nibble on hay for an 
hour or two. Then he may have more water and his ^rain. A 
final wat(!rin^at ni^ht will add to the animal's sense of comfort. 

Kerosene and carbolic acid in the {)roporti()n of a pint of the 
former to a teaspoonful of the latter may be used as a spray 
to protect the livestock from the fiies. 

Shade will be retjuired for the growing stock as the warm 
days corne on. lliis is just as important in the case of ducks 
and turkeys as in that of chickens. Even ba^^in^:^ fastened to 
|)oles will help. Often sunflowers may be grown along the 
poultry yard fence for shade. Jerusalem artichokes are even 
better. They are very easy to grow and when once started will 
come up year after year. In the field or garden, they become a 
nuisance, but the leaves provide excellent shade and the fowls 
have no liking for them. If protected until they are started, 
these artichokes may be grown in the poultry yard anywhere. 

Stray cats often turn chicken thieves and cause considerable 



120 THE COUNTRY HOME 

loss. Some people set a box trap baited with a dead chicken 
near the runs. Any cat found in the trap may well be disposed 
of without more ado. 

lliere is need of fresh water in abundance in the poultry 
yard. If it is fresh, the laying hens will drink more and the 
result will be more eggs. Eggs and water have a closer con- 
nection than many people realize. 1 here are several reservoir 
fountains on the market that give good service and minimize 
the labor. 

Turkey poults must still be kept out of the wet grass, and 
will still need green food in abundance. Ducklings must have 
green rations, too. Watercress is much liked by them, but even 
rye will answer. 

Early hatched geese may be penned and fattened beginning 
the latter part of the month. "Green" geese are in demand in 
July. 

WORK WITH THE BEES 

If it is found that a queen is not laying well, she must be 
replaced at once, or no honey will be secured from that hive 
and the colony will dwindle. A queen is seldom worth keeping 
more than three years. New queens may be bought by mail 
and will cost from seventy-five cents up. The old queen is 
best destroyed on the day before her successor is to be intro- 
duced. This is because the bees are very excited for about eight 



JUNE 121 

hours after they miss their queen. The next day will find them 
reconciled and they will be ready to accept a new sovereign. 
The latter, in her cage, is placed on top of the frames and in 
a short time the bees will free her by eating away the candy 
which seals the opening. A few hours after the introduction it 
is advisable to make an inspection to see that all is well. 
When one has a colony with a particularly good queen, a frame 
containing a ripe queen cell, if one is to be found, may be 
removed instead of buying a new queen. 



JULT 

''When the heat like a rmst veil floats. 
And poppies flame in the rye. 
And the silver note in the streamlet's throat 
Has softened almost to a sigh 

It 2s July:' — Susan Hartley Sweet. 




Ww^^^^'i^^^mm^^. 



M 
m 



iiht 




-1^1 



4 



"^^1 



JULY 

JULY is the great haying month especially in the northern 
states, although when weather conditions are good, it is 
often possible to get in some of the hay in June. The best 
time to cut Timothy is when the heads are in or just past full 
blow. Clover is best cut when a third of the heads show a dull 
brown, having passed well beyond the blooming period. 
Clover must be cut and handled with care, wet days being care- 
fully avoided. It is not well to cut clover even when it is 
wet with dew and no more should be cut at a time than can be 
stored as fast as it is made. When cut one morning and hauled 
into the barn the next, it should be turned in the afternoon of 
the first day. As a rule it is not advisable to stack clover. 
Farmers have often saved their clover crop in a wet season by 
storing it in the silo. As a matter of fact, clover makes an 
excellent ensilage. 

July is the best month for sowing root crops for stock feed- 
ing. This applies to mangel wurtzels, sugar beets, rutabagas 
and common turnips. As a rule these vegetables may be 
planted where earlier crops have been taken off. Dwarf Essex 
rape sown in July will make excellent pasturage for sheep, hogs 
or poultry. When no other crops are to be planted or if the 

[ 125 ] 



126 THE COUNTRY HOME 

soil needs improving, cover crops of soy beans, cow-peas, crim- 
son clover or vetch may be put in. All of them take nitrogen 
from the air to enrich the earth. The cow-peas and crimson 
clover can be grown only south of New York. Both the cow- 
peas and the soy beans are killed by hard frosts, but the crim- 
son clover and vetch will live over. 

Cultivation must be kept up persistently. A good hoeing is 
often worth as much as a summer shower. It may be well here 
to say a few words about the tools needed by the owner of a 
country home. Of course, much depends upon the size of the 
place and the extent of the gardening and general agricultural 
operations carried on. Some at least of the following tools 
will be needed in any case. The prices given are approximate. 

Horse rake $ 21.00 

Two-horse wagon 1 00.00 

Portable gasoline engine 150.00 

Spray pump 20.00 

Wheel hoe with seed drill lO.OO 

Wheelbarrow 4-90 

Grindstone 6.00 

Axe 1.00 

Manure fork 75 

Hay fork 50 

Common hoe .50 

Warren hoe 50 



JULY 127 



Ladder, 30 ft $ 5.50 

Wooden rake .40 

Iron rake .60 

Pruning saw .75 

Pruning shears .50 

Shovel .75 

Spade 85 

Lawn mower 8.00 

Carpenters' tools 10.00 

Sulky plow 40.00 

Walking plow 12.00 

Disc harrow 25.00 

Spike tooth harrow 6.00 

Spring tooth harrow 15.00 

Horse cultivator 7. 00 

Lawn roller 10.00 

Garden line i.OO 

The farm tools must necessarily be selected with an intelli- 
gent consideration of local conditions. Quite different plows, 
for instance, will be chosen for a hill-side farm and for one 
which is level. It is always advisable to consult somebody who 
has had some experience as a farmer in that section. 

Of the garden tools, few are more useful than the wheel hoe. 
If the garden is large or if field crops are to be planted without a 



128 THE COUNTRY HOME 

horse, the automatic seeder attachment is needed. In a small 
garden the furrows can be opened and covered with the hoe 
alone. This device has done nnich to eliminate backaches from 
garden operations. 

Of course, a common hoe must l)e used for some parts of the 
work and this hoc, to be satisfactory, must be chosen with care. 
The weijj:hr should be just right for the man who is to handle it 
anci it shouKl have just the proper "feel." Moreover, the hoe 
nuist be kept sharp or good work cannot be done with it. The 
wise gardciicr carries a file in his pocket and uses it on most of 
his tools. To keep a hoe sharp it should be filed frequently, l)ut 
only on the under side. 

The Warren hoe lias a triangular blade which can be used to 
good advantage in every garden. It is easy to open furrows 
for seeds with tliis hoe and equally easy to cover them, while the 
sharp point may be dug into sods or heavy ground with much 
less effort than the blade of an ordinary hoe. 

A light iron rake is invaluable in smoothing ofF the garden 
when preparing a fine seed bed such as is needed for all garden 
crops. Among the useful small tools are the trowel, the hand 
weeder and the dibble. 

Farmers often have been accused of lack of thrift because 
they allow their tools to remain out of doors exposed to the 
elements, llnfortunately there is considerable truth in the 
accusation. The only proper plan is to have storage room for 



JULY 1^ 

all the tools and the garden implements are best arranged on 
the wall hanging on hooks put up for the purpose. 

ORCHARD AND FRUIT GARDEN 

Thinning the fruit is a job for late June or July, largely 
depending upon conditions. Formerly nobody thought of thin- 
ning the fruit on a tree, but experience has shown that a much 
more satisfactory crop is secured by this means. No commer- 
cial peach grower thinks now of neglecting this work and apj:)le 
growers are beginning to practice thinning. The rule is to have 
the fruit so far apart that no two specimens touch and thinning 
is best done after the natural drop, which usually comes in June. 

Curculios do considerable harm to plums and quinces. The 
way to get rid of them is to jar the trees early in the morning. 
This jarring is done by means of a stout pole, one end of which 
is wrapped in burlap or old blankets. This mammoth stuffed 
club is driven against the branches of the trees with sufficient 
force to dislodge the pests, which fall on sheets previously 
spread under the trees, making it easy to gather them up and 
destroy them. 

Another spraying of the fruit trees this month is advisable, 
using combined Bordeaux and arsenate of lead. The grape- 
vines need spraying too. In order to protect the grapes from 
birds, mosquito netting may be thrown over the vines. The 
practice of bagging is followed when extra fine fruit is desired. 



130 THE COUNTRY HOME 

The method is simple. Paper bags of the right size are secured 
at the grocery store and tied or pinned over a number of selected 
bunches. Bagged grapes ripen a little earlier than the others. 

Gooseberries are often infected with mildew in midsummer. 
Keeping the bushes well open is a help, but it may be necessary 
to spray with potassium sulphide dissolved in water, one-half 
ounce to a gallon. 

Cultivation of the orchard should end by the middle of the 
month in order that the wood may be ripened before winter. 
Good orchard growers then sow a cover crop, which may be 
crimson clover, vetch, soy beans or rye, to be plowed under in 
the spring. 

IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 

If the hybrid perpetual roses are cut back about one-third, a 
second crop will often be produced. It is not too late to make 
a final planting of gladioli the first of the month. South of 
New York dahlias may be planted early in July, beginning to 
flower after the hottest weather is over. Better asters will be 
secured if the first buds are taken off. 

Pansies for next year's blooming may be planted late in the 
month in a well-prepared seed bed. It is not a bad plan to cover 
the bed with hay or other litter until the plants appear; other- 
wise it will be necessary to keep the ground thoroughly well 
watered. After the pansies have made a good start, they may 



JULY m 

be set out where they are to bloom the next year, and will go 
through the winter with only a little protection. English 
violets are best started from runners set out now. They may 
he placed in new ground and cultivated until late in August. 
Well-grown old plants will have many runners. 

July is perhaps the best month for starting all the peren- 
nials which are to be grown from seed. A cold frame or spent 
hotbed may be used to good advantage for this purpose, 
although an outside seed bed may be used. When sowing seeds 
in midsummer it is necessary to have the ground moist in order 
to secure quick germination, and perhaps the best way to apply 
water without washing out the seeds is to lay a strip of burlap 
or old bagging over the bed and apply the water to that with a 
watering can. Often it is advisable to shade young plants if 
in an exposed situation. Considerable watering in the garden 
may be avoided by mulching the rose bushes, shrubs and peren- 
nial plants with litter from the poultry house or the stable. 
Then if it is necessary to apply water, the litter will hold the 
moisture in the ground. When litter is not used, the soil should 
be frequently stirred. 

Everblooming roses are encouraged to send forth flowers 
in abundance by a weekly application of manure water about 
the color of weak tea. A somewhat less satisfactory substitute 
is nitrate of soda dissolved in water, an ounce to a gallon. Both 
the manure water and the nitrate of soda may be used to advan- 



132 THE COUNTRY HOME 

tage in forcing the bloom of various annual and perennial 
plants. It is perfectly feasible to set out roses even in midsum- 
mer, if potted plants are used. These plants usually come in 
paper pots and may be transferred to the ground without dis- 
turbing the roots. Often they will bloom the same season, but 
it is necessary to see that they are kept well watered and they 
may require shading at first. 

It is very important to apply water in abundance to the 
rhododendrons if the season be a drv one. Even if the effects 
may not appear now, the injury done by drouth will be seen 
in blossoming time next spring. 

Watering of the lawn must be done intelligently or the 
results will not be worth while. Merely sprinkling the surface 
is worse than giving no water at all, for the roots are coaxed to 
the surface where the sun's heat will scorch them. The orna- 
mental lawn sprinkler is often a delusion and a snare. The 
only right way to water a lawn is to let the water run in one 
place for an hour or so, using only sufficient spray to cover a 
small area. Ordinarily one good watering a week will be suf- 
ficient in the hottest weather. Shaded lawns need little water. 
Grass often fails to grow under trees if ground is made too wet. 

In times of drouth it is best to apply water at night in the 
garden and to use the hoe in the morning. Even the lawn is 
better watered in the evening than while the sun is shining upon 
it, for then evaporation is very rapid and much water is wasted. 



JULY 133 

A heavy mulching around the sweet peas will do much to 
keep them thriving. Occasional applications of manure water 
will do them good, too. 

Pansies often begin to look bad in July, but their growth 
may be renewed if the center of the plant is pinched out and a 
liberal application of sheep manure or liquid fertilizer made. 
By taking a little of the plant with each blossom when the 
flowers are picked, the plants get a constant pruning which is 
beneficial. Probably it is needless to say that pansies will soon 
cease blooming unless the flowers are gathered daily. This 
applies also to sweet peas and many other garden flowers. If 
they are allowed to go to seed they will consider that they have 
fulfilled their mission. Seed pods and withered flowers should 
be picked off those plants which do not yield blossoms suitable 
for cutting. 

WORK IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 

In order to get a succession of lettuce, radishes and beans it 
will be necessary to make frequent sowings. Salamander, as its 
name would indicate, is a first-class hot weather lettuce. All 
lettuce plants need to have plenty of water and some shade at 
this season. Oftentimes the beans can be saved from rust only 
by spraying with Bordeaux. Potatoes must be sprayed, too, to 
prevent blight and more especially to check the efforts of the 
Colorado beetle to eat the plants. 



134 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Cabbage worms are likely to appear in force this month. 
Some people spray with arsenate of lead, but the use of this 
poison is not recommended after the heads begin to form. It 
is better to use hellebore, soot, wood ashes, salt or even hot 
water sprayed into the heads. Savoy cabbages, perhaps the best 
for home use, must be watched as closely as the other kinds. 

Often it is a good plan to bury the runners of the squash 
vines at intervals. Roots will be made at these points so that 
the plants will not be lost if borers appear. These pests work 
in the stems and are not detected until the plants begin to wilt. 
When squash and melon vines grow rampantly it is well to nip 
off the ends to force the vigor into the fruit. 

Most vegetables which seem to be growing too slowly may 
be stimulated by an application of nitrate of soda. 

It is possible to have one more crop of peas this season. The 
way to do it is to make a planting of an early variety late this 
month. The pea is a cold weather vegetable. Sweet corn, on 
the other hand, loves the heat and a final planting may be made 
the first of the month. If an early variety is used, it will be 
pretty certain to mature. 

Carrots and beets may be planted in order to give tender 
young roots in the fall. Late celery may be set out early in 
July, using the space occupied by crops which have passed. 

Late cabbage and cauliflower plants may still be set out. 
The one point to be remembered when transplanting is that the 



JULY 135 

soil around the plants must be made as firm as possible in order 
that the rootlets may come quickly into close contact with the 
new earth. 

It is not too late to plant cucumbers for pickles, if a forkful 
of manure be thrown into the hole. There is an old saying that 
cucumbers planted before five o'clock on the morning of the 
Fourth of July will yield all the pickles needed for fall. 

GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW GARDEN 

Often the window garden begins to wear a forlorn and 
dejected appearance by the time the height of summer has 
arrived. This is not to be wondered at, for the plants have 
made a heavy drain on a comparatively limited amxount of plant 
food. 7 he remedy is to dig sheep manure or a balanced com- 
mercial fertilizer into the earth, or else to begin giving weekly 
applications of manure water. It must be remembered, too, 
that the window box needs water in great abundance, for expo- 
sure to the air on all sides creates extremely rapid evaporation. 

There is still time to sow seeds of cineraria, calceolaria and 
the various Chinese primroses for next winter's blooming. 

It is time to order bulbs of freesia and oxalis, if flowers are 
wanted for Christmas, because it will be necessary to plant them 
next month. 

Pinching off the chrysanthemums should cease about the 
middle of the month. 



136 THE COUNTRY HOME 

After the hydrangeas have ceased flowering they may be 
planted in a shady border and allowed to grow until fall. 

Violets are propagated by means of runners in the spring 
or the late summer. They are placed in flats in the green- 
house, which is kept well ventilated. A soil of light loam with 
one-third well rotted manure will be satisfactory, but leaf mold 
in place of the manure is even better. If one has no violets a 
good way to start growing them is to buy young plants as soon 
as possible. The double Marie Louise and the single Prin-cess 
of Wales are the most popular. 

This is an excellent month to consider the building of a 
greenhouse if there is none on the place. It may be inexpensive 
or costly, as the owner may desire. Three or four hundred 
dollars will build one large enough for growing many plants 
and it is a growing practice to attach the greenhouse to the 
garage, a single heater answering for both. Double glass sash 
is now being used for greenhouses and reduces the amount of 
heat required. 

STABLE AND LIVESTOCK 

It is a fortunate fact that flies are beginning to be less numer- 
ous than formerly was the case. Nevertheless, they are to be 
found in considerable numbers in most country places, and tor- 
ture cows and horses which are exposed to their attacks. If all 
the manure from the stable were kept in a covered pit, the fly 



JULY 127 

nuisance would be very soon abated, for manure is their chief 
breeding phice. Often it is humane to stable the cows during 
the middle of the day and to darken the barn rather than to 
leave the animals in the exercise yard or pasture. There are 
various sprays on the market which are effective to a limited 
extent in giving protection from flies. Where there is only one 
cow a blanket of burlap may be made for her. There are ready- 
made blankets, designed for summer use, on the market. 

Water and shade are among the essentials this month. Even 
dogs and cats often suffer from a lack of water because of their 
owners' thoughtlessness. Probably there would be fewer mad 
dog scares were it not for this neglect. It is important that the 
dog kennels be kept perfectly clean and, although they may be 
in a sheltered position to keep them from becoming too hot, it 
is well to have the sun shine in at the entrance for an hour or 
two each day. Raw meat should be avoided except what meat 
adheres to the bones bought for the dogs to chew upon. Two 
meals a day are as many as any dog should have after it is six 
months old. 

Particular attention to sanitation and cleanliness must be 
observed during the hot weather. Milk should go from the 
barn to the dairy the moment the pail is full and must be cooled 
immediately. Neglect of this point is one reason why milk 
sours quickly. The use of cheesecloth in the dairy is a great 
help. Milk can be strained through it easily, and squares of 



138 THE COUNTRY HOME 

the cloth may be used, also, for giving temporary protection. 

It pays to give the pigs pasture whenever possible. They 
naturally are grass-eating creatures. It hardly pays to raise 
pigs on the farm if they must be confined, except for family use. 
It is wise to dip the pigs once before they are weaned and every 
month thereafter until autumn. Growing pigs need, besides 
grass, considerable bran, middlings, oats and milk. Corn is not 
important until fattening time approaches. Even with pas- 
ture hogs need a wallow, not because they like to make them- 
selves dirty, but for the reason that by wallowing in mud until 
they are caked with this substance they are able to rid them- 
selves of vermin. 

March, April and May pigs should be weaned. After they 
have been separated from the sows they should be given fresh, 
warm milk for a feed or two, a change then being made to skim 
milk with shorts added, the amount of shorts being increased 
daily until it makes a thin porridge. A pint of oil meal to ea<:h 
half barrel of this ration may be added. 

It is best not to breed sows or to use boars under a year old. 
The period of gestation is sixteen weeks. If young pigs have 
the run of a pasture they will grow amazingly. 

If the amount of pasture is limited, soiling may be necessary 
most of the summer. This means that green crops are cut and 
fed, the cows being confined to exercise yards. Of course much 
extra labor is required and plans must be made for a soiling 



JULY 139 

crop the season through. Rye sowed in the fall will give spring 
feeding, oats and peas will come later and millet may be fed 
in the late summer, in addition to corn fodder. Cows should 
be stabled nightly all summer, whatever system is used. The 
only proper place to milk them is in the stable and they should 
have their grain there. 

Calves should be taken from their dams as soon as dry and 
penned far enough away so that they will not be heard by the 
mother; the latter should be given a light bran mash moderately 
warm and milked after five hours, the milk being given the calf. 
Bran mash with an abundance of hay may be allowed the cow 
for a week, by which time she can be gradually returned to her 
customary diet. 

JULY IN THE POULTRY YARD 

Vigilance is the price of success with poultry. Unless the 
chickens receive the constant attention which keeps them grow- 
ing uninterruptedly until fall, the season's work will not be a 
success. Chickens must have water without stint and should be 
provided with shade. Many growers are now allowing their 
chicks to run in the corn fields, which is a particularly good place 
for them, as they are protected from hawks and are shaded by 
the cornstalks. They do no harm and some good. If milk, 
either sweet or sour, can be obtained, it will be found one of 
the best of growing foods. It is just as well not to feed corn 



140 THE COUNTRY HOME 

too early to young chickens, as oats, wheat and their products 
are better for making a large frame. 

No success should be expected unless the chickens are grown 
on ground which is not tainted. This means that it must be 
new land or else kept in grass. Undoubtedly the youngsters 
thrive best when they have a wide range, especially if they can 
get on plowed ground. On general principles, the young stock 
should be confined to their houses until the dew is ofE the grass 
in the morning, yet it is a question whether they do not suffer 
more as a result of fretting than from the slight wetting they 
might get. It has been found that when chicks which are accus- 
tomed to their liberty have been confined for a day or two, they 
have actually lost flesh. 

A vigilant fight against lice must be kept up. These pests 
multiply so fast that the progeny of a single pair will amount 
to a hundred thousand in a few months. They are always 
worse in hot weather and the red mites, which leave the fowls 
in the morning, remaining hidden in cracks or on the under sides 
of the perches through the day, are particularly bad, as the hens 
can not get rid of them by dusting. It is the poultry keeper's 
work to exterminate them, spraying the houses and perches with 
kerosene or by painting the roosts with a liquid lice paint, which 
is the most effectual way. 

Cockerels and pullets are best separated as early as possible 
and such cockerels as are not needed for breeding purposes 



JULY 14]_ 

should be fattened for market. It does not pay to keep them 
after they have made a weight of four pounds dressed. The 
smaller breeds should be marketed when lighter. It is well to 
kill off the older hens as they stop laying, for they will soon 
begin to moult and will be unprofitable for some time. 

If the house is very hot, it is a good plan to make openings 
at the rear just under the roof, with hinged shutters to be low- 
ered when cooler weather comes. 

The eggs should be gathered several times a day or they may 
be incubated by the laying hens. Sometimes changing from the 
regular laying mash to a commercial mash such as is fed to 
young chickens will stimulate the egg yield. 

Turkey eggs may still be hatched and the turkey hens them- 
selves may be allowed to sit on them this month. It is just as 
important to keep turkeys as hens free from lice. 

Coops for chickens not old enough to roost are better with 
earth floors than with board floors at this season. The position 
of the coops should be changed often, however, unless sand is 
kept in them and renewed frequently. When cockerels are to 
be kept for the family table, through the coming year, it is wise 
to have them caponized, for they will then make larger growth 
and may be kept together in large flocks without quarreling. 
There are experts in most communities who will perform the 
operation for from five to ten cents a bird. 

The first of July is early enough for the hatching of pheas- 



142 THE COUNTRY HOME 

ants, for they are decidedly delicate at first, being particularly 
susceptible to lice. Some breeders transfer the eggs to incu- 
bators just before they are due to hatch and raise the young 
pheasants in brooders. When they are raised with hens, a low 
wire fence should be run around the nest, for they are prone to 
wander away and are likely to be lost. The hen must be thor- 
oughly dusted with lice powder at frequent intervals and a little 
of the powder may be applied to the pheasants. 

Pyrethrum powder from the drug store will drive lice from 
poultry if it is fresh. If old, it is of little value. A very 
efficient insect powder may be made at home as follows: Mix 
thoroughly two and one-half pounds of plaster of paris, three- 
fourths of a pint of gasoline and one-fourth pint of crude car- 
bolic acid, and when sufficiently dry, work the mixture through 
a fine sieve. An old pepper box or salt shaker may be used when 
dusting the hens and the birds should be held up by the feet in 
order that the powder may be well worked into the fluff around 
the vent and under the wings. 

JULY WORK WITH THE BEES 

July swarming is not unusual, but is quite undesirable. 
Twenty-four hours after the swarm has been hived, it is best 
returned to the parent colony. 

Early made honey may be taken from the hives in July, but 
all honey should be left until somewhat ripened. This is par- 



JULY 143 

ticularly true of honey required for extracting. Comb honey 
if left too long in the hives becomes stained. An extractor costs 
about ten dollars and removes the honey from the comb by cen- 
trifugal force. The comb may then be returned to the hive to 
be filled again. 

When honey is coming in rapidly a "super" may be filled in 
a short time. When two-thirds of the sections have been filled, 
the "super" should be raised and another one slipped under it. 
This may be continued until there are four or five on the hive. 

"Supers" filled with honey may be removed without trouble 
if a Porter bee escape and honey board are used. The board, 
with the escaping device attached, is slipped under the "super" 
and left for 24 hours, by the end of which time nearly all the 
bees will have gone into the hive below. As they are unable 
to return through the escape, the "super" will be practically 
empty. 



A UG usr 

*"Tke quiet August noon lias come, 
A slumberous silence fills the sky, 
T'he fields are still, the woods are dumb. 
In glassy sleep the waters lie.'' — Bryant. 



AUGUST 

A UGUST is one of the most satisfactory months in the year 
/ \ for the owner of a country home. It is the harvest 
month, crowning the season's work with a generous 
yield from held and garden. At the same time it is the month 
for starting the work of the next season, for the ground must be 
thoroughly prepared for the sowing of winter wheat. Sod land 
should be dressed lightly for best results and plowed deeply, 
after which it should be harrowed repeatedly until a good state 
of tilth has been established. In the absence of manure an 
application of commercial fertilizer will be needed. 

In August it often is possible to cut another crop of alfalfa, 
the proper time being as it is just coming into bloom. Alfalfa 
is exceedingly satisfactory, but must be handled with rather 
more care than some of the other crops. Oats will be cut this 
month, preferably just as the grains have become well formed. 
If the crop is to be used for hay, the oats should be cured in the 
same manner as grass. Oats make a good soiling crop for milch 
cows as the pastures run short. 

Cultivation of the field crops should be continued faith- 
fully. This is as important when there are frequent showers as 
in a dry season, for the rain compacts the surface of the ground 

[1471 



148 THE COUNTRY HOME 

so that the moisture escapes rapidly. The cultivator should 
be used as soon after every downpour as the ground is dry 
enough. Likewise it will be necessary to continue the warfare 
on insect pests and fungous diseases, especially the potato bug. 
the cabbage worm and bean rust. 

ORCHARD AND SMALL FRUITS 

It is still possible to sow a cover crop in the cultivated 
orchard. Rye is a good crop tor the purpose in the northern 
states, as it will not be winter-killed, and will prevent the soil 
from being washed in the spring. A cover crop takes up the 
moisture from the ground and in that way induces the harden- 
ing of the trees, in j)reparation for winter. 

Old wood may be cut from the raspberry and blackberry 
bushes and if the new canes are making strong growth they may 
be cut back to three feet. Cuttings from gooseberries and cur- 
rants may be made this month. They should be ten inches long 
and tied in a bundle to be packed in moist sand during the 
winter, in the course of which a callous will form at the end, 
making them ready for planting early in the spring. 

Early August is the time for training dwarf fruit trees, the 
branches being tied in the shape it is desired to have them 
assume. Raffia is the best material to use, as it will not cut the 
stems. Superfluous wood should be cut out, but care must be 
taken not to break off the fruit spurs on apple and pear trees. 



AUGUST 149 



These spurs begin to form several years before the fruit is pro- 
duced, while peaches and nectarines are grown on new wood. 

It is not too late to start a strawberry bed which will bear 
next year, if potted plants are used. These plants may be pur- 
chased or may have been started in the home garden from run- 
ners a few weeks before. The roots are not disturbed in trans- 
planting and if the ground has been well prepared and the 
plants are kept well watered, they will become established in a 
few weeks. The ground around them should be made very firm 
with the foot and a light mulch of straw for a week or two will 
be a help. The necessity of using perfect flowering or else both 
pistillate and staminate plants must not be overlooked. When 
setting out strawberries, it is always well to learn the varieties 
which thrive in a given locality, as some varieties are very 
particular as to soil and other conditions. 

It is well to spray the apples again in August, using Bor- 
deaux mixture combined with arsenate of lead. 

WORK IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 

It is advisable to order peonies, for late August and Septem- 
ber is the best month for planting them out. There are few 
herbaceous plants which will give more genuine satisfaction 
than the peony, when one has become acquainted with the newer 
varieties, these sorts being a wonderful improvement over the 
old-fashioned "piney" of our grandmothers' gardens. There 



150 THE COUNTRY HOME 

are singles, doubles, Japanese, anemone, bomb and various 
other types. The list of sorts is endless and it will be a pleasure 
to study a catalogue before making out one's order. Peonies 
like rich ground, but resent the presence of fresh manure near 
the roots. The cost depends somewhat upon the age of the 
roots, but most people like to buy roots which will give flow- 
ering plants the following year. Plants that have been estab- 
lished for several years may be divided safely the latter part of 
August or in September, making several new plants. When 
one has once made a start with peonies, it is a simple matter to 
increase the number of plants. The roots should be always set 
so that the eyes will be from two to three inches below the sur- 
face. 

If dahlias are in a windy situation, it probably will be neces- 
sary to stake them by this time, using raffia or soft tape to tie 
them. Many amateurs give dahlias too much water. In the 
average season they need no watering at all, but if they show 
signs of wilting, enough should be given to penetrate the soil 
for a foot. Probably one application will be enough. Many 
dahlias make excellent cut flowers if they are treated properly. 
They should be cut early in the morning while the stems are 
full of sap and stripped of their leaves for six inches from the 
end of their stems. Then they should be placed in water as hot 
as can be borne by the hand and allowed to remain until the 
water cools. After that they should be placed in cold water and 



AUGUST 1 5 1 



allowed to remain in a cool, dark place for twelve hours. With 
this preparation, dahlia blossoms will remain fresh for a remark- 
ably long time. 

Gladioli for table and house decoration are best picked just 
as the second flower from the bottom of the spike has opened. 
Good spikes should last in water for a week or ten days. 

Sweet peas need an abundance of water to carry them 
through the hot weather of August. They, too, should be picked 
early in the morning and under no conditions must seed pods be 
allowed to form. 

This is the only month of the year when it is safe to move 
bulbs of lilium candidum, the Ascension lily. Bulbs for new 
plantings should be ordered early in order that they may go 
into the garden before the end of the month. Unlike most of 
the lilies, they make a growth which shows above ground before 
fall. 

Pansies started last month should be thinned to three inches 
apart. By the time they are six weeks old they will be ready 
for their permanent beds, but they will not make good growth 
unless kept well watered. 

Dwarf asters make excellent pot plants for house decora- 
tion. They may be lifted when in bud, if the ground around 
them is first watered in order that a mass of earth may be moved 
with the roots, and they will soon burst into bloom. 

Flowers may be easily sent by mail a considerable distance, 



152 THE COUNTRY HOME 

it they are picked early in the morning, wrapped first in oiled 
paper and then in newspapers and packed in a pasteboard box. 

IN THE FRUIT GARDEN 

Bhickcap raspberries and dewberries are propagated by lay- 
ering, the rips being pinned to the gronnd and covered with 
soil any time after the truiting season is over. When roots have 
been formed, the new plants are separated from the old. 

IN THE VECJETABLE GARDEN 

It is Still possible in most sections to make a final planting 
of beets and carrots, an early kind being chosen. Late varieties 
of celery may be set out, whih^ blanching earlier sorts shouhl be 
started. 1 his blanching may be done with boards, paper strips 
designed for the pnrpose, sections of tile drain, or by banking 
with earth. Perhaps the best plan of all for the amateur is to 
use the new paper collars now on the market, which are easily 
ap|)lied and cost but a few cents. 

Bush beans may be planted twice with fair prospects of a 
good yield, as they mature at this season in seven or eight weeks. 
There is still jihMity of time for planting rutabagas, as they 
need not be harvested until the latter part of October. 

Spinach is another crop for late planting and it is well to 
choose one of the Norfolk varieties for the reason that they grow 
on tall stems and are not likely to be filled with sand as in the 



AUGUST 153 



case of most spinach found in the markets. It is useless to try 
growing spinach unless the ground is made exceedingly rich. 
In the absence of manure, a commercial fertilizer will give good 
results. The following formula will answer for a spinach patch 
of four hundred s(|uare feet: Nitrate of soda, 2 lbs.; muriate 
of potash, 2 lbs.; phosphate, 10 lbs. 

All seeds should be planted a little deeper in hot weather 
than early in the spring and it is necessary to firm the ground 
well. 

The ripening of tomatoes may be hastened by placing them 
on straw in a cold frame with the sash in position. Onions will 
be ready to harvest in August. The proper time is indicated 
by the wilting down of the tops. In order to have this vegetable 
keep well, considerable care in harvesting must be used. After 
they are picked, the onions should be left on the ground in the 
field until thoroughly dry, being covered with straw or other 
litter at night. Then all immature and loose skinned specimens 
should be picked out, the others being packed in crates having 
open sides and stored in a cool, dry place with plenty of venti- 
lation. 

The garden should be yielding bounteous crops this month 
and in order to have the vegetables at their best it is worth while 
knowing just when to gather them. Snap beans, for instance, 
must be picked when young; corn, when it is in the milk; sum- 
mer squash, before the shells get hard; Swiss chard, when the 



154 THE COUNTRY HOME 

outer leaves are well grown; and spinach, before the flower 
spikes appear. Brussels sprouts, kale and parsnips are better 
after they have been touched by frost. Often kale may be gath- 
ered until Christmas. 

Seeds of mustard and lettuce for fall salads may still be 
sown, while parsley and corn salad will be ready in the spring 
if planted now and protected with litter when cold weather 
comes. It is worth while experimenting with some of the Chi- 
nese radishes, which grow to enormous size and can be stored 
in the cellar like other root crops for winter use. 

THE month's work IN THE GREENHOUSE 

Freesia and oxalis bulbs for Christmas blooming may be 
started, both new bulbs and those saved from last year. This is 
also the time to start the calla lily into growth by repotting it in 
rich loam but without increasing the size of the pot. Seeds of 
mignonette, nasturtiums, browallia, sweet peas and snap- 
dragon may be sown now for winter blooming. 

Violets propagated in the garden should be planted out in 
benches before the end of the month. Poinsettias plunged out- 
side will supply cuttings up to the middle of August. The old 
stumps may be planted in benches. 

Tomatoes started last month for growing under glass should 
go to the benches in August. Cauliflower is easily grown dur- 



AUGUST 155 



ing winter and the first seeds should be sown now, an early 
variety being chosen. Lettuce seed should go in at the same 
time. 

English ivy cuttings made now, placed in small pots am! 
plunged in ashes or in a shaded bench, will make good plants 
by fall. 

LIVE STOCK AND STABLE 

It is cruel to deprive horses of water in hot weather for hours 
at a time under the impression that they should not be allowed 
to drink when warm. No harm will be done, if they are allowed 
to take a few swallows at frequent intervals. 

If the cows are slow in coming to the stable at night, make 
a practice of feeding them a little grain. It will invariably 
prove an inducement. 

During the warm weather horses that are driven freely 
should have their feet looked after at least once a month. 

Salt is needed now as well as in winter. 

AUGUST IN THE POULTRY YARD 

August is the month when special care must be given to 
keeping the poultry houses and yards clean, especially those 
occupied by the growing stock. If the yards are of limited ex- 
tent, they must be plowed or spaded frequently. It is much 
better, however, to let the chickens run in a corn field. 



156 THE COUNTRY HOME 

In order to keep the houses in a sanitary condition, it is 
well to ^ive them a coat of whitewash. The whitewash used 
by the government is particularly elective and is made as fol- 
lows: One-hall bushel of fresh lime is slaked with warm 
water, being cox'ered to confine the steam. The liciuid is then 
strained through a cheesecloth and eight cjuarts of salt, previ- 
ously dissohcd in warm water, is added. Three pounds of 
ground rice boibnl to a thin paste is then stirred in boiling hot. 
Next a half pound of powdered plaster of Paris and a pound of 
glue, previously dissolved over a slow hre, are added to the 
nnxture. Finally come hve gallons of hot water. 'Hie white 
wash should be stirred well and allowed to stand for a few days, 
being covered to keeji out the dirt. It is best to apply it hot. 
One pint of the mixture wdl cox'cr a s(|uare yard of wall space. 
Once ajiplied, it will last for years. 

It is well to get rid of all surplus male birds and not to 
allow the pullets and cockerels to run together. Dwarf Essex 
rape may still be |)lanted to give a supply of late green stuff. 
A light frost will not hurt it. 

It is inij)ortant that the chickens have room enough so that 
they will not cro\\'d at night, and it is well to get them on the 
perches as early as possible. If they crowd into a corner on the 
floor some of tluMii are pretty certain to be smothered or badly 
injured. If a perch is placed only six inches or a foot from the 
floor, the chickens will often learn to use it very quickly. If 



AUGUST 157 



they do not, it may be necessary to put some of them on it tor 
a few nights. Being imitative creatures, they often may he 
taught to roost by putting a small hen in the {)en with them. 
She will lead the way and they will follow. 

August is a particidarly good month to build a new poultry 
house for it will then have time to dry out before cold weather 
comes. It is impossible to say that there is any best ty[)e of 
house, but the average man can hardly do better than to con- 
struct a building of the shed roof type. It should be at least 
ten feet deep and six feet high in front. Four feet is about the 
right height for the rear wall. In building a poultry house 
one should j)lan to allow about four scjuare feet of floor space 
for each bird, more rather than less. 

Experience has shown that the fresh air house is far pref- 
erable to any other kind and the connnon practice now is to 
use little if any glass, the openings being fitted with hinged 
shutters to which muslin curtains are tacked. In sections where 
the weather is very severe an extra set of curtains is drawn in 
front of the perches on cold nights. 

The poultry house should always face the south or south- 
east in order to get as much direct sunlight as possible. Some- 
times it is an advantage to put a glass window in the west end 
in order to get the afternoon sunlight also. 

Poultrymen are not agreed as to the kind of floor which is 
best. On the whole, an earth floor will give satisfaction if it is 



158 THE COUNTRY HOME 

built up a foot higher than the surface of the ground outside, 
and is covered with a litter. When a cement floor is used, it 
is imperative that there be a layer of stones or other coarse ma- 
terial at least a foot thick underneath it; otherwise it certainly 
will be damp. A double board floor is warm and rats may be 
kept out by using closely woven wire between the boards. 
Some poultry keepers lay the floors with a layer of heavy build- 
ing paper between them as an extra precaution against damp- 
ness. 

The perches should not be more than three feet above the 
floor and should be lower, if dropping boards are not used. 
Two by three scantling with the wide side up makes perhaps 
the best perches. Dropping boards, though commonly used, 
are not necessary and a great deal of work is avoided if they are 
dispensed with, as stated in another chapter. When dropping 
boards are used, they should fit tightly to the wall, in order that 
a current of air may not flow upward from back of them. Also, 
they should be made of matched boards and may slope slightly 
toward the front to facilitate cleaning. 

Roosts, nests and all other accessories should be detachable 
in order that they may be easily and quickly removed. In no 
other way is it possible to keep the poultry house in a sanitary 
condition. 

Everything should be taken out and the house given a thor- 
ough cleaning twice a year and August is a good month for the 



AUGUST 1 59 



work. It is not necessary to have elaborate nests nor to have 
them dark. Ordinary orange crates, divided in the middle 
and with a bar across the front near the bottom, make very 
satisfactory nests. The only advantage of the dark nest is that 
it may help to prevent egg eating. 

An inexpensive house will give just as good results as one 
costing several times as much. It is possible anywhere to build 
a satisfactory house at the rate of $i for each hen to be confined 
in it. The walls should be of single matched boards and the 
roof covered with a good grade of roofing paper. It is also an 
advantage to have roofing paper on the rear or north wall. 

For egg production it is just as well to keep the hens in 
large flocks as to divide them into small pens. One hundred 
hens running together are as profitable as the same number in 
flocks of twenty-five, and the eggs will have just as high a 
degree of fertility, at hatching time. 

If the poultry house is to be a permanent structure, it is ad- 
visable to set it on a foundation of concrete a foot above the 
ground and extending two feet below. This will help to keep 
it drv and will exclude rats. 



SEPTEMBER 

"Sepleml?er strews the woodland o'er 
With leaves of many a color ^ 
T'he world seems brighter than before^ 
Why should our hearts be duller'' — Parsons. 



SEPTEMBER 

WHAT so rare as a good lawn in late summer I Grass 
plots that were a beautiful, shimmering green in 
spring are now burned to a sickly brown. Even con- 
stant watering may have failed to save them. Indeed, faulty 
use of the hose may have contributed to their dismal discolora- 
tion. When, here and there, one finds a lawn which is green 
and handsome in spite of drought and torrid sun, one may feel 
certain that it was made right at the beginning and has been 
properly cared for. 

If a new lawn is to be made, September is an excellent time 
for the work. Heavy showers at that season may usually be 
counted upon and the grass will get a fine start before winter 
comes on. Also, it is easier to get the ground in proper condi- 
tion than in a late, wet spring. Many a lawn-making failure 
might have been a complete success if a few tile drains had been 
laid. Draining is by no means always necessary, but often it 
is a great advantage. 

Without good soil, wxll prepared, a satisfactory lawn is 
impossible. Often it will pay in the end to draw on good loam, 
but in any case the earth should be thoroughly broken up to 
a depth of eight inches and a liberal amount of well rotted 

[163] 



164 THE COUNTRY HOME 

stable manure mixed with it. To try making a lawn in any 
other way is throwing away money, unless, indeed, you are 
simply fixing up a place to sell, and then it is dishonest. Even 
if you are going to lay sod, the soil should be pulverized and 
enriched, but sodding is not to be recommended except for 
diminutive plots or for narrow stretches between sidewalk and 
street. 

There is no excuse for making the lawn look and smell like 
a barn-yard every fall. Stable manure is almost certain to in- 
troduce weed seeds and the greater part of the plant food is 
washed away before it becomes available. Pulverized sheep 
manure, such as the seedsmen sell, is much better for the pur- 
pose of winter manuring, but the results are just as satisfactory 
when a good dressing of bone meal is applied in the spring. 

If the lawn is strewn with dandelion and plantain, late 
summer is a good time to get rid of them. Plantain will die 
out if cut off an inch or more below the ground and a common 
asparagus knife is a good tool to use as the instrument of 
destruction. The dandelion is a more obstinate intruder and 
hard to eradicate. It is asserted that if the plants are cut oif 
close to the ground and kreso dip (sold at the drug stores) be 
injected into the stump with a machine oil can, the roots will 
perish. Gasoline may be used in the same way. The plan may 
prove more satisfactory now, when the plants are somewhat ex- 
hausted, than in the spring. If bare spots follow the eradication 



SEPTEMBER 



165 



of weeds, grass seed should be sown immediately and thickly. 
The heavier the stand of grass on any lawn, the less opportunity 
will weeds have to flourish. Indeed, it is sometimes possible 
to crowd out plantain by enriching the lawn and sowing more 
seed. 

September is also one of the best months of the year for 
setting out perennials, either those which were started from 
seeds in the spring or plants from the seed stores. Among the 
best perennials for the garden of the country home are the 
following: 



NAME. 

Japanese Anemone, 

Aquilcgia (Columbine), 

Hardy Asters, 

Boltonia, 

Canterbury T)clls, 

Hardy Cbrysanthcmums, 

Dicentra ( Blcccb'nj^: Heart), 

Funkia subcordata, 

Funkia, variet^ated, 

Helen ium Aulumnale, 

Oriental Poppy, 

Hollyhock, 

Pyrethrum, 

Rudbeckia (Golden Glow), 

Sweet William, 

Trolius (Globe Flower), 

Tritoma (Red-hot Poker), 

Yucca, 

Aconitum (Monkshood), 

Delphinium (Larkspur), 



I!F,OOMING DATE. 

Sept-Oct. 

June-Sept. 

Late fall. 

Aug.-Sept. 

June-July. 

Scpt.-Oct. 

May-June. 

Aug.-Scpt. 

Aug. -Sept. 

July-Sept. 

Spring and summer. 

July-Sept. 

Aug.-Oct. 

July-Sept. 

June-Aug. 

May-July. 

July-Sept. 

June-July, 

July-Sept. 

All summer. 



COLOR. 

White, red, pink. 

Yellow, white. 

Purple, white, lavender. 

Purple. 

I'lue, white, rose. 

Many colors. 

Rosy red. 

White. 

Ulue. 

Yellow. 

Scarlet. 

Many colors. 

Rose. 

Yellow. 

Many colors. 

Yellow. 

Bright red. 

White. 

Blue, white. 

Blue, white. 



166 THE COUNTRY HOME 

There is no better month in all the year for planting peonies 
and these flowers are worth while growing in large numbers. 
Among the particularly good sorts are Festiva Maxima, Co- 
quelin, Duchess de Nemours, L'Esperance, Duchess d'Orleans, 
Rosia Elegans, Couronne d'or, and Avalanche. 

There is no more satisfactory perennial for the garden of 
the country home than the hardy phlox, which will grow in sun 
or partial shade with but very little attention, and yields its 
blossoms generously. They may be planted to advantage for 
striking mass effects or used equally well among earlier flower- 
ing plants. They require plenty of plant food and water in 
abundance. A heavy mulching of manure to be dug in in spring 
will keep them growing finely. Naturally they bloom in July 
and August, but if parts of the tops are pinched out before the 
buds form, the blooming season will be greatly prolonged. 
About once in three years the old plants should be divided. Par- 
ticularly good varieties are Boule de Feu, Bridesmaid, Coqueli- 
cot. Miss Lingard, which is very early, and Independence, a 
pure white late sort. 

Still another especially fine fiower for the garden of the 
country home is the German iris, which glorifies the month of 
June. The German iris is exceedingly hardy and very easy to 
grow. It, too, may be divided after a few years, so that with a 
small beginning one can soon have a considerable collection. 
This is the true fieur-de-lis and likes best full exposure to the sun 



SEPTEMBER 1 67 



with a warm, well drained situation. To tell the truth, though, 
the German iris is so accommodating that it will grow anywhere 
except in wet ground. Sornie varieties have a delicate fragrance 
and some will last a considerable time when cut. The one thing 
to remember when planting the German iris is that it will not 
tolerate the presence of fresh manure. This flower has often 
been called the poor man's orchid, but at the same time, it is 
rich and ornamental enough for the millionaire's garden. 

The Japanese iris may also be started up to the middle of 
September. The flowers of this class are even more wonder- 
fully beautiful that those of the German iris, but are not so 
easy to grow. People have the idea that the Japanese iris 
should have a moist location, but they will do well in any good 
soil if the earth is kept constantly stirred and watering is not 
neglected. Perhaps there is no place, however, where they 
appear to better advantage than on the bank of a pool or pond. 

The bulbs of cannas, dahlias and gladioli should be lifted as 
soon as the tops have been killed and stored in a dry place, after 
they have been allowed to dry off. Perhaps the best way to 
carry over bulbs is to keep them in sand. 

Shrubs planted in September in well drained ground are 
almost certain to live. If it is desired to increase the spring 
list, the following may be chosen: Daphne, a low, hardy ever- 
green, with bright pink fragrant flowers; Deutzia Gracilis, an- 
other low growing and very attractive shrub; Forsythia Sus- 



168 THE COUNTRY HOME 

pensa, a weeping form of Golden Bell, which looks very attrac- 
tive, trained over porches or trellises; Kerria, an exceedingly 
satisfactory yellow flowering shrub, blooming most of the sum- 
mer; Smoke Tree, a large shrub with misty smoke-like flowers 
in June; Sumac, a common shrub, bearing handsome red fruit 
in the fall and of great value in supporting grassy banks be- 
cause of the heavy root growth; Spiraea Van Houttei, undoubt- 
edly the finest of all the white spiraeas; Snowberry, a medium 
sized shrub with attractive white, waxy berries in autumn. 

There are many ornamental and shade trees which may be 
planted successfully in the fall, but this does not apply to those 
with soft roots like the magnolia. The beech tree, on the con- 
trary, can be moved in September better than in any other 
month. Among the best ornamental trees for the home grounds 
is the catalpa. The Speciosa form is fine and bears flowers 
which are exceedingly attractive. 

Another good tree is the Kentucky coffee tree, which is 
seldom troubled by pests and makes rapid growth. One must 
be careful, however, to order the male tree because the female 
form makes a straight, tall growth, which is not desirable. The 
linden or basswood tree is another low growing sort which is to 
be recommended. The common beech is a good lawn tree, if 
given plenty of room and the purple beech is especially charm- 
ing in spring, before the color of the leaves darkens. 

Few trees are more delightful, winter or summer, than the 



SEPTEMBER 169 



cut-leaved weeping birch. Of the slower growing trees, of 
course, the oak is among the best and the sugar or rock maple 
is rightly among the most popular. The Norway maple is also 
a good lawn tree. 

Among the best of the common trees for street use are the 
English ash, oriental plane tree and sugar maple. While the 
American elm is unsurpassed for this purpose, of late years it 
has suffered seriously from the attacks of the elm tree beetle. 

The Carolina poplar is commonly planted because of the 
fact that it makes very quick growth. This fact, however, does 
not offer adequate compensation for its untidy habit and its 
tendency to ruin sidewalks, force open drain pipes and even 
send its roots into cellars. Its leaves fall very early and make 
a most unsightly litter. 

Some of the fruit trees can be planted as successfully in 
September as in the spring, but in the northern states fall plant- 
ing of the stone fruits, such as peaches, plums and cherries, 
should not be undertaken. Planting fruit trees with dynamite 
has been found of great advantage where the subsoil is very 
hard and in stony land. Not only does the dynamite make the 
excavation with a minimum of work, but it opens up the soil 
in all directions so that the roots are able to penetrate quickly. 
The use of dynamite is to be given serious consideration by the 
owner of a country home where conditions would seem to indi- 
cate that its use would be worth while. 



1 70 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Currants and gooseberries do well when planted in Sep- 
tember, but it is better to leave raspberries and blackberries 
until spring. Grapes may be planted in the tall, but in the 
northern part ot the country it is much sater to wait. 

Fall planting of evergreens has been a mooted question for 
many years. Regardless of the merits of the discussion, how- 
ever, it is a fact that evergreens may be planted successfully 
in August and September, but it is not wise to ship the trees 
long distances. It is of the utmost importance that the roots 
should not be allowed to dry out and that the soil be well 
firmed about them when they go into the ground. Properly 
phuited, the rootlets will begin digging their way into new 
territory within fifty-six hours. 

Of course it is not wise to set out evergreens when very hot 
or dry weather prevails. If there is a drought, it is better to 
wait until it is over. In any case, the newly set trees may need 
shading, which is easily given by setting up stakes and fastening 
bagging ()^•er them. Fhere is one decided advantage in plant- 
ing evergreens now; that is, they may be enjoyed throughout 
the wmter. They are a relief to the eye when all the other trees 
are bare and bleak looking. Evergreens planted thickly per- 
form a real service in protecting the house from high winds. An 
efficient evergreen windbreak will actually cut down coal bills. 
Arbor vitae makes the best evergreen hedge and is excellent 
for planting around a laundry yard. 



SEPTEMBER 171 



Evergreens as commonly sold at the nurseries run from six 
inches to six feet high; the bigger the tree, the bigger the price. 
It is often feasible to buy trees fifteen feet high, if one cares to 
pay the bills. In fact, there are men who make a business of 
moving trees that have been established for many years and 
with surprising success. 

IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 

Winter celery will need banking, according to the directions 
given in August. Do not get soil into the hearts of the plants. 

Potatoes should be dug as soon as the tops have died, but 
it is not wise to dig them before, for growth will continue as 
long as the tops are green. It is a good plan to pick out the 
good sized, smooth potatoes from well filled hills to be kept for 
seed. All the potatoes should be dried off and moved into a 
cool cellar as soon as possible. 

If cabbage heads begin to crack, the remedy is to bend them 
over so as to break the roots on one side to check growth. 
If cabbages are to be used at once, the outside leaves may be 
left to grow. They will make good green food for the hens. 

Lettuce, spinach and radish seeds sown in a cold frame will 
give crops for early winter. Beets and carrots should be har- 
vested before the frosts kill the tops and one must be careful 
not to cut within an inch of the roots, when removing the tops of 
beets, for otherwise thev will bleed. 



172 THE COUNTRY HOME 

The shell beans, if picked, dried and shelled, may be kept 
for winter use. It is well to sow rye where all the crops have 
been removed in order to add to the supply of humus in the soil. 

GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW GARDEN 

Freesia and oxalis bulbs should be started as early in Sep- 
tember as possible, if flowers are wanted for the holidays. They 
should be kept in a cool place, but need not be set away in the 
dark as is the case with most of the other bulbs. 

The paper white narcissi may well be started before the end 
of the month. Easter lilies in the greenhouse must be potted up 
fairly early. 

The various azaleas need to be ordered now and potted as 
soon as received. It is also well to buy plants of bougainvillea 
to be forced later. 

Cuttings from all the bedding plants and particularly gera- 
niums, may be made to good advantage in order to have a suffi- 
cient number of new plants in the spring. 

If sweet peas, nasturtiums and petunias are to be grown in 
the greenhouse, seeds must be sown now. Many of the garden 
flowers may be moved into the house for growing in the window 
garden, the list including geraniums, heliotrope, coleus, petu- 
nias and begonias. Oftentimes young plants will be found 
growing under the leaves that will give better flowers than 
those which are older. 



SEPTEMBER 1 73 



Tuberoses which have not flowered may be taken inside, and 
some people succeed with the cobaea scandens vine. 

It is a good plan to go into the woods at this season and 
gather a supply of leaf mould which will be found in the hol- 
lows under the trees. Soil and sand are also to be stored for 
use in the greenhouse during winter. 

GENERAL FARM WORK 

There is no better month for seeding meadows or the per- 
manent pasture. Meadows which have run out should be fer- 
tilized and sown to some other crop for a year before they are 
put into grass again. It is well worth while to apply fertilizer 
generously before seeding. Manure may be used up to thirty 
tons an acre with three hundred pounds of commercial fertilizer 
in addition. It is often found an advantage to use rye or win- 
ter wheat as a nurse crop, and the yield helps to pay for the 
fertilizer. 

Corn for the silos will be cut this month. The value of en- 
silage has been proven over and over again and a silo is well 
worth constructing wherever dairy cows are kept. The corn 
may be left until danger of frost is almost at hand and then 
should be harvested quickly. If there is much of it, it will pay 
to use a harvester. Field corn has to be cut when the ears are 
well glazed and the wise farmer makes a careful selection of 
seed corn at that time. By choosing the best ears, although not 



174 THE COUNTRY HOME 

necessarily the largest, from the best plants, he is able to build 
up a strain of corn of more than ordinary value. 

Fields that have been cropped heavily will need an abund- 
ance of manure to restore the plant food taken out. On a farm 
of considerable proportions a manure spreader will be found 
of no little value. It does the work better and much more 
quickly than it could possibly be done by hand. 

Millet, cow-peas and buckwheat are to be harvested in 
September. Fodder corn should be cut and stacked before it 
has become too old to be palatable. 

Cows will need held rations at this time and, if there has 
been a good season, there will be clover, millet and fodder corn. 
Many seasons there will be a second crop of hay which may be 
fed green. At all events the wise farmer will keep his animals 
off the meadows and fields in order that the grassland may 
begin the winter in good condition. 

WORK IN THE ORCHARD 

Fruit picking will be well under way. Many owners of 
country homes are finding that there is no little profit in the 
sale of fall apples, if they have a market close at hand. In 
any case, there should be a supply for home use. Often it is a 
good plan to go over the trees twice as the fruit does not all 
ripen at the same time. A final spraying of orchard trees with 
arsenate of lead will destroy great numbers of insect pests. 



SEPTEMBER 1 75 



Grape cuttings may be made this month. Well matured 
wood of last season's growth should be chosen and cut into 
lengths of about ten inches. These cuttings should be tied in 
a bundle and stored in moist sand in a cool cellar with the butt 
ends up. 

WORK IN THE SOUTH 

In September many annuals such as candytuft, Canterbury 
bells, daisies, forget-me-nots, godetias, pansies, mignonette, 
poppies, sweet peas and phlox Drummondi may be sown. 

All perennials may go into the ground and will have two 
months yet to grow. It will be well to shade the seeds during 
the middle of the day. 

All salad plants may still be grown. 

STABLE AND LIVE STOCK 

September is a month in which all the animals suffer par- 
ticularly from the attacks of flies. It is a good plan to cover the 
cows with a light blanket when they are being milked in order 
to keep them quiet. 

The waste apples may be fed to good advantage to the hogs 
and sheep. The latter may be allowed to run in the orchard, 
but as a rule the hogs should be kept out as they are likely to do 
much damage. 

Pigs which have been kept largely on grass will need a sup- 



176 THE COUNTRY HOME 

ply of corn from now on ; also they must be kept well bedded 
and dry. 

IN THE POULTRY YARD 

Pullets which are to make the laying hens for the coming 
winter should be in their permanent quarters before the end of 
the month. Where only a few hens are kept, it often is ad- 
visable not to retain a male bird during the winter. The hens 
will lay just as well, if not better. 

All old hens should be out of the yard by the end of the 
month. As a rule a laying hen is not profitable enough to keep 
after her second year. It is well to avoid feeding new corn to 
poultry. 

Clean sand will be needed for the poultry houses and may 
well be hauled now, for the pullets should go into winter quar- 
ters next month. 

Let the pullets become accustomed to open houses from the 
first and they will grow heavy coats of feathers, which will 
protect them in winter. 

This is a good month to start poultry keeping with mature 
birds or well grown pullets. Often yearlings may be bought 
at a bargain. Most of the common breeds lay well, but there 
are several considerations to be thought of. In some sections 
white eggs are most in demand. They are laid by the smaller 
breeds, like the Leghorns, Anconas, Hamburgs and Campines. 



SEPTEMBER 177 



The one fairly large bird laying white eggs is the Minorca. If 
brown eggs are preferred, the hens to look to are the Plymouth 
Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Wyandottes and Orpingtons, 
among others. These brown egg breeds are all of good size and 
dress much better for the table than the white egg breeds. They 
usually are classed as utility poultry, while small hens like the 
White Leghorns are considered as representing the egg-laying 
type. Without doubt, the White Leghorns are the heaviest 
layers known to the poultry world. 

On commercial plants the White Leghorn is most common, 
but for a home flock, the larger breeds are more in favor. 

Another point is the color of the skin. In this country, the 
preference is for yellow skinned fowls, which include the Plym- 
outh Rocks, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, Brahmas and 
Cornish fowls. The Orpingtons have light colored skins and 
pink or dark legs, yet are growing in popularity in spite of 
prejudice. 

IN THE APIARY 

Much of the honey crop will be removed this month and the 
work may be done easily if a Porter bee escape is used in the 
manner described in the July chapter. The warmest part of 
a warm da}^ is always the best time to open a hive, for then 
many of the bees are in the field. If you get a sting, scrape it 
off immediately. Then you will suffer little from it. 



178 THE COUNTRY HOME 

It is not safe to expose the honey for any length of time, or 
robbing will be attempted. The honey should be taken at once 
to a building or room which the bees can not get into. They 
have been known to remove much of the honey from stored 
combs. 

Honey must be stored in a dry, warm place. Many people 
think it should be kept cool, but that is a great mistake. It 
candies if kept cool. 



OCrOBER 

"Leaves are falling^ mists are twining^ and to Winter sleep 
inclining 
Are the trees upon the plain!' — J. G. Jacobi. 



OCTOBER 

BLACK frosts in October will mark the end of the garden 
season. If the garden has been a success, however, there 
will be a bounteous supply of vegetables to store for win- 
ter use. Sometimes it is a problem to secure satisfactory storage 
facilities unless a cellar for the purpose has been constructed. 

The ordinary cellar containing a furnace or heater is likely 
to be too warm, but in many cases this difficulty may be reme- 
died by covering the pipes and possibly the heater itself with 
asbestos. Another plan is to partition off a corner of the cellar 
which may easily be done with but little expense, if wall board 
is used. 

Potatoes are best wintered in a clean bin with a board floor. 
Most of the root crops, like carrots, beets and parsnips, may 
be kept for many months in boxes of sand, the sand being mois- 
tened slightly if the roots begin to shrivel. Only such parsnips 
and oyster plant as may be required for early use need be dug, 
for these two vegetables will keep perfectly in the ground 
where they grew, until spring. 

When a considerable number of cabbages is to be stored, 

it is best to bring only a few to the house, the rest being placed 

head down in trenches and covered with leaves or straw; earth 

[i8i] 



182 THE COUNTRY HOME 

being added as the temperature falls. The heads should be set 
side by side and not quite touching. Celery may also be win- 
tered to good advantage in a similar manner, but the trenches 
should be wider and lined with boards. The covering of straw 
or leaves may also be held in place with a few boards and earth 
mounded over the trench before severe freezing weather comes. 
It is well to have a loose board at each end in order to give 
ventilation on warm days. A small amount of celery may be 
stored without difficulty in the cellar by setting the plants close 
together in a box of earth, care being taken not to get the soil 
into the hearts of the plants. If the tops show signs of wilting, 
the earth should be watered slightly. In whatever way celery 
is stored the outer leaves should be first stripped off. A little 
celery for immediate use is easily blanched by placing a few 
stalks in a butter crock with just enough water to cover the 
roots, being kept in a dark place. Squashes need considerable 
warmth and are best stored on racks suspended from the top 
of the cellar. It will be an advantage to have them near the 
heater, for they like a temperature of about fifty degrees. 

In order to have apples keep well it will be necessary to 
have a cellar with an average temperature not much above 
freezing — thirty-three degrees is about right. 

Late tomatoes may be ripened in the house by pulling up the 
plants and suspending them from the ceiling in the attic. 
Often they will last until Christmas. 



OCTOBER 183 



After all the crops are in, it is an excellent plan to plow the 
garden, leaving it in ridges; unless, of course, it has been 
planted to rye. Fall plowing is an effectual way to destroy 
many insect pests. This desirable object is also assisted by 
raking up and burning the vines, cabbage stems, corn stalks 
and other refuse, all of which are used by various destructive 
insects as a winter home. This is one of the best months to set 
out rhubarb, and old plants should be given a heavy dressing 
of manure. The asparagus bed should also be fertilized, but 
first the tops must be cut down and consigned to the bonfire. 

It is not necessary to dig turnips until late in the month for 
they are extremely hardy. 

Early October is not too late for a sowing of Welsh onions, 
to be eaten in the spring. Cabbage seeds may be sown in the 
hot bed or cold frame and young lettuce plants for winter use 
should also be transferred to the bed or frame at once. They 
will need ventilation in abundance, however. A few parsley 
plants may be dug and planted in boxes for growing in the 
kitchen window. They will supply as much parsley as will be 
needed for garnishing, most of the winter. 

WORK IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 

It is just as necessary to clean up the flower garden as the 
vegetable garden and all waste should be destroyed by fire. 
Most of the perennial plants may still be set out. 



184 THE COUNTRY HOME 

If a frame is placed over the bed of English violets, blossoms 
may be picked in the spring very much earlier than would 
otherwise be the case. This is an excellent time to start a com- 
post heap to furnish fertilizing material for next spring's gar- 
den. If a collection of old sods be mixed with manure and the 
whole occasionally turned, a large amount of valuable plant 
food will be secured. 

GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW GARDEN 

Paper white narcissi and Roman hyacinths should be 
brought into the light at intervals. The former can be forced 
in about a month, while the Roman hyacinths require hardly 
more than three weeks. 

Tulips and other bulbs for the winter garden should be 
potted and put away in a dark, cool place to make root growth. 
Some people plunge them in ashes in the cellar, others use a 
cold frame and still other gardeners prefer to store the bulbs in 
a pit out of doors. The out of door situation must be well 
drained and there should be a layer of ashes or cinders under the 
pots. The amateur usually finds it satisfactory to start his 
bulbs in the cellar. When they are potted, the soil should be 
given a thorough soaking and unless the cellar is very dry, it 
will not be necessary to apply any more water. The bulbs must 
be kept shaded or the tops will start before the roots. 

For early forcing, the paper white narcissi, the Roman h3^a- 



OCTOBER 185 



cinth and the Due Von Thai tulips are to be recommended, in 
addition to freesias and oxalis. When ordering bulbs, it is 
always well to mention the fact that they are desired for forc- 
ing. (See planting table in Appendix.) 

New violet plants, for growing in a cold frame or in a cool 
greenhouse, may be purchased now. It is also the time to buy 
the azaleas, deutzias and other shrubs for greenhouse forcing. 
It is best to keep them for a time in a pit where they will get 
full daylight, but be protected from frost. It is very important 
to keep the chrysanthemums free from insect pests. 

WORK IN THE FRUIT GARDEN 

The winter apples will be picked this month in many sec- 
tions. Nothing is to be gained by harvesting the fruit before 
it is ripe. The apples will keep no better and will be of poorer 
quality. The right time is when the fruit is fully matured, but 
has not begun to get soft. 

Great changes in the methods of handling apples have come 
within the past few years. In a commercial orchard the fruit 
is now handled almost as carefully as eggs, every care being 
taken to avoid the slightest bruise. This means, of course, that 
the apples must be picked from ladders and it is best to use 
small baskets with a hook which may be slipped over a rung 
of the ladder. The proper way to pick apples and all similar 
fruit is to place the palm of the hand under each specimen and 
bend it upward. If ripe, it will snap off. 



186 THE COUNTRY HOME 

C1inihin<; in the trees is to he avoided as there is danger of 
breaking otf many fruit spurs. The use of an apple picker is 
not advisahU' unless the trees are so high that the fruit cannot 
he readied in any other way, for it is almost impossible to 
use these pickers without l^uising the skin of the ripe fruit. 
The best way to sort the apples is to take them immediately to 
a shed or the barn and to spread them on a sorting table made 
by stretching burlap between a light frame on legs. 

It is well worth while evaporating such fruit as does not 
seem likely to keep well. An evaporator for use on the kitchen 
stove costs but little and does very efficient work. It may be 
used throughout the winter if the apples begin to decay. 

Ot course, cider making will not be overlooked and there 
should be a good press fitted with a grinder on every country 
place. When making cider, it is worth while to go over the 
apples, cutting out all decaying spots. The early apples are 
of little value because the cider has a poor flavor, but most late 
winter varieties make excellent cider, although russet apples 
are considered the best of all for this purpose. 

The culls from the apple orchard will be eaten with relish 
b)- the stock. Apples may be fed even to poultry to good ad- 
vantage if chopped or perhaps smashed with the foot. 

It is a good plan to top dress the apple orchard with manure 
by the end of the month. Wood ashes are also very beneficial 
and if poultry manure is used liberallv, it should alwavs be 



OCTOBER 187 



suppleinented with wood ashes or muriate of potash. The ashes 
are excellent also for the grapes and a liberal mulching with 
manure and ashes combined this month will improve next year's 
crop. Grapes are heavy feeders. 

In many sections apple trees may still be set out this month. 
Some experienced growers buy one-year-old trees which they set 
close together in the fall, transplanting them to the orchard 
a year later. They prefer this plan to the buying of two-year- 
old trees. 

GENERAL FARM WORK 

The main crop of potatoes is commonly dug this month and 
if the field is a large one, it is worth while by all means to use 
a potato digger. 

November used to be the great month for husking corn, and 
husking bees were the principal social events throughout the 
country districts. New methods of handling the corn have 
changed all this and when husking is to be done on a large scale, 
machines are commonly used. 

If the soil seems to need improving, it will be worth while 
sowing rye or perhaps rye and winter vetch combined. The 
value of the combination lies in the fact that the vetch is a 
nitrogen gatherer. One bushel of vetch and a half bushel of 
rye give about the proper proportion for an acre. It is always 
advisable to sow rye on fields which are likely to be badly 



188 THE COUNTRY HOME 

washed. Level fields are often plowed in the fall because the 
action of the frost is favorable to the soil and also because the 
spring work is lightened in that way. 

One very important October task is the cleaning up of all the 
fields, especially along the fences, where weeds are likely to 
accumulate. This is also an excellent season for laying tile 
drains and on many country places the expense of these drains 
will be more than balanced by the increased returns from the 
helds within a few years. 

STABLE AND LIVE STOCK 

It is time now to bring the sheep to the fold, but it will be a 
great mistake to keep them confined in close buildings. All 
they need is an open shed and protection from the wind. They 
should be allowed the run of the yards whenever the weather 
is suitable. 

Many owners of dairy cows have found that it is a mistake 
to allow the animals to feed on stalks in the corn fields. In 
some rather unexplained way the result is frequently most in- 
jurious to the cows. The proper way to feed cornstalks is to 
cut them and cure them a little. When many stalks are to be 
fed, it will certainly pay to buy a corn shredder, for then the 
stalks will be fed to best advantage and with little waste. 

It will be worth while to get in a generous amount of root 
crops for feeding the live stock during the winter. 



OCTOBER 189 



The young pigs will need warm quarters at night, especially 
those that have just been separated from the sows. It is as 
important to have dry quarters for the hogs as for all the other 
farm animals. 

Whether a horse should be watered before or after feeding 
is a much discussed question, but experiments seem to show 
that there is no particular advantage one way or the other, when 
grain is the feed. There seems to be a slight advantage in 
watering before feeding when hay alone is given. 

It is rather cold now for washing the farm dog, but it is ad- 
visable to sift tobacco dust into the coat of the long-haired 
breeds frequently in order to keep the animals free from vermin. 

OCTOBER IN THE POULTRY YARD 

All the laying stock should be in winter quarters before the 
end of the month. Some of the pullets should be laying, but 
it is just as well if they do not start too early, for the eggs are 
likely to be small and later production interfered with. It is 
well worth watching for the pullets which lay first and, if they 
are satisfactory birds in other ways, to slip a band on their legs. 
These early laying pullets will be the birds to save for breeders. 

From now on, fowls should be fed indoors, using a litter of 
straw, hay or leaves six inches deep. By this plan the birds get 
the exercise they need and all have an equal chance. At the 
same time have a hopper of dry mash accessible at all times. 



190 THE COUNTRY HOME 

For whole grain a variety will be appreciated. It may in- 
clude corn, oats, wheat, barley, buckwheat and Kaffir corn. 
Corn, oats and wheat will be the grains most depended upon, 
however. A daily ration composed of two parts corn, one part 
wheat and one part oats will give good results, but the poultry 
keeper should be sure that he gets good sound wheat and plump 
oats. It is an advantage to use cracked corn because the birds 
have to do more scratching to get their fill, but it is well to 
feed some whole corn at night in order that the hens may be 
certain to fill their crops to their capacity before going to roost. 
The man who gets the most eggs is the one who can get the most 
food into his hens. 

A green ration of some kind will be needed and it is well to 
have even more than the alfalfa in the mash. Cabbages, man- 
gels, beets and similar root crops are good, but they should not 
be hung, as often advised, so that the birds must jump for them. 
The best way to feed the root crops is to cut them in halves 
and spike each half to a board. Often a supply of waste cab- 
bages may be secured and stored under a covering of leaves on 
the north side of the house. It is not well to feed cabbages too 
liberally, however, for they tend to make watery eggs of poor 
quality. 

Dried beet pulp from the grain stores makes a very satis- 
factory green ration, after being soaked for a little while in 
hot water. It gives off an appetizing odor and the hens soon 



OCTOBER 191 



come to like it. If they do not eat it readily at first, the addition 
of some beef scraps and a little bran will tempt them. 

Sprouted oats are very popular among poultry keepers just 
now and are really very efficient. To prepare the oats for 
sprouting, they are first soaked over night in a pail of warm 
water; then they are spread in a box to a depth of an inch and 
kept moist. The box must have holes for drainage and it is 
well to supply water at first by means of a watering can, so that 
the grains will not be washed about. Sometimes a piece of 
bagging is spread over the oats and the water poured on that. 
In any case, it is well to keep the grain dark until it has made 
some growth and it must have a warm location, as perhaps be- 
side the furnace in the cellar or back of the kitchen stove. 

Sometimes the oats have a tendency to mould, but this may 
be prevented by adding about ten drops of formalin to the pail 
of water in which they are soaked. 

When the sprouts are from two to four inches high they 
will be right to feed. By that time they will have made a solid 
mass in the box and one square inch for each bird should be 
a day's allowance. 

It will of course be necessary to keep several boxes going 
in order that the supply may not run out. 

Oftentimes a rack containing six trays is used and 
there are a number of patented oat sprouters on the 
market. 



192 THE COUNTRY HOME 

OCTOBER BEE WORK 

The bees should go into winter quarters late this month. 
Professional bee keepers often winter their bees in cellars but 
it is better for the amateur to leave them out doors. Ten frame 
hives are needed for outside wintering, though, unless double 
wall coverings are used. These coverings may be purchased of 
dealers in bee supplies and fit over the other hives, the space 
between being filled with leaves or chaff. 

Ten-frame single wall hives will carry strong colonies 
through the winter if properly protected. One good plan is 
to build a rough shed, open on the south side, where the hives 
may be set close together, straw being filled in around and back 
of them. 

Another plan is to wrap the hives in heavy building paper 
which has been oiled, in order that it may shed water. What- 
ever plan is used, an empty "super" should be set on each hive, 
with a honey board under it, and a bag filled with leaves or chaff 
stuffed into the "super," the cover then being put on in the 
usual way. It is on top the hive that the most protection is 
needed. As an extra precaution the two end frames in each 
hive may be removed and chaff-filled dummy frames sub- 
stituted. 

It is wise to make sure that each colony has sufficient honey 
to carry it through the winter, about thirty pounds being 



OCTOBER 193 



needed. While the weather is yet warm, a thin sugar syrup 
may be fed to colonies which seem deficient in stores. Later, it 
is better to use candy, which is made by dissolving pure gran- 
ulated sugar with a little water. The sugar and water should 
be stirred over a slow fire for some time and then allowed to 
harden. It must not be allowed to burn under any circum- 
stances, for burned sugar is fatal to bees. The hard candy is 
to be placed on the top of the frames. The heat of the colony 
will soften it and it will run down just fast enough to be used 
by the bees. 

Mice sometimes give trouble in winter and it is well to 
fasten a strip of woven wire, coarse enough to let the bees 
through but to exclude the rodents, over the hive entrances. 



NOVEMBER 

'"Talk not of sad November, zvhen a day 
Of zvarm, glad sunshine fills the skv of noon, 
And a wind, borrowed from some morn of June, 
Stzrs the brown grasses and the leafless spray r 

— John G. Whittier. 



NOVEMBER 

IN THE northern part of the country, November is the month 
to make the garden snug for winter. If leaves are plenti- 
ful, they may be raked up and spread over the perennial 
beds, but it is best not to do this work until after the ground is 
frozen. In the absence of leaves, straw or litter from the poul- 
try house will serve the purpose, but it should not be more than 
two inches deep. Lilies and montbretias will need protection 
in the same way. 

The more tender roses will need protection, too, and the best 
plan is to put straw overcoats on them. If long straw can be 
secured, it should be placed lengthwise and tied in place with 
strings. Then if a little more straw is doubled in the middle 
and put over the top like a cap, also being tied firmly, perfect 
protection will be given. One point is not to be overlooked; if 
the straw covering is made too heavy the plants will be smoth- 
ered. There must be some circulation. 

All the roses will be better for a mulch of coarse manure 
applied this month. Those of the hardier sorts will be suffi- 
ciently protected simply by heaping earth around the base, but 
the use of manure is better. 

Rhododendrons and azaleas and other tender shrubs will 

[197] 



198 THE COUNTRY HOME 

often go through the winter safely, if a board shield is so placed 
that they will not receive the full force of the hard winds. In 
spring this shield may he shifted to the south side so that 
growth will not start too soon. Often the rhododendrons may 
be protected by the simple expedient of standing evergreen 
boughs among the shrubs. 

It is a great convenience to have a cool greenhouse, which 
may be nothing more than a lean-to without heat, for in such 
a house many half hardy plants may be safely wintered. 

Straw or litter of some sort will be required for the straw- 
berry bed after the ground has frozen hard. The object of 
this covering is not to keep the frost out, but to prevent the 
alternate freezing and thawing which tends to heave the plants 
out of the ground. If the manure from the poultry house is 
thrown on the litter between the rows, in the course of the 
winter it will be washed into the soil and prove a fine stimulant. 

Newly set trees will be benefited by a mulch of coarse man- 
ure or of straw. It is always well, however, to leave a space 
of two or three inches between the mulch and the tree trunk; 
otherwise mice will burrow in the litter and feed on the bark. 
Oftentimes it is necessary to take precautions also against the 
depredations of rabbits. Protection is easily secured by means 
of wire mosquito netting, cut into strips large enough to go 
around the tree. These strips should be four or five feet high 
and, if they are first rolled into a cylinder, they may easily be 



NOVEMBER 199 



snapped into position. There are veneer protectors on the 
market which are efficient and durable. Also there are paints 
guaranteed to keep away both rabbits and mice. If, however, 
the wire guard spoken of is made to fit tightly at the top, it will 
also secure protection against the beetle from which the tree 
borers come and which lays its eggs on the bark, usually near the 
bottom of the tree. 

November is an excellent time for examining the trees 
throughout the orchard in order to discover borers, if there are 
any. Their presence may be detected usually by a little mound 
of sawdust and perhaps by a few drops of gum. Often the borer 
works very close to the ground so that a careful examination is 
needed. The apple tree borers have a way of working straight 
through a tree, while the peach tree borers usually make their 
holes just inside the bark. It is well to have a sharp knife along 
for then the borer often can be easily cut out, but it is better for 
the tree to make the cut up and down rather than across. If the 
knife method is ineffectual, a stout, pliable wire must be called 
into play. By jabbing this wire into the hole the pest at the 
end may be crushed. 

If there is painting to be done around the country home, 
this season is often favorable, especially after the ground 
freezes so that there is no dust blowing. There is more time 
now than in the spring and the paint will last as well as though 
exposed to the rays of a summer sun soon after being applied. 



200 THE COUNTRY HOME 

In country houses where wood is burned an unpleasant ex- 
perience may be avoided by having the chimney cleaned. If 
there is a fireplace, an old blanket or piece of canvas may be 
fastened over it and the soot loosened by means of a piece of 
iron attached to a cord and let down from the top. 

Evergreens and hedges should be kept free from snow which 
is likely to break them down. It is a mistake to trim hedges 
with a wide, flat top in the northern states for the snow lodges 
there and is almost certain to do more or less damage in a hard 
winter. 

If injury to raspberry or blackberry bushes from the cold 
is apprehended, they may easily be bent down and partly cov- 
ered with earth. In case blackberry plants are too stiff to be 
handled in this way, the roots may be loosened with a fork. It 
is best to wear gloves to protect the hands. 

If spinach for spring use has been planted, that also will 
need winter protection in the shape of straw or strawy manure. 

Before the winter sets in, it is advisable to make certain 
that the gutters are free from leaves or other refuse. Doing so 
may prevent a stained ceiling in the spring. 

It is not too early to begin to invite the birds to be friendly 
during the cold winter weather. Suet and bread crumbs may be 
provided for them, but one must harden his heart sufficiently 
to prevent the English sparrows consuming it to the exclusion 
of the more desirable birds. There is a suet cake now on the 



NOVEMBER 201 



market containing various grains and adapted to the feeding 
of all the winter birds. 

A great many of our feathered friends may be coaxed to 
linger by giving them shelter and food; even blue birds have 
remained in New England all winter with such inducement. 
It is better to put up bird houses now than in the spring, for 
the action of the weather in the course of the inclement months 
will make them appear somewhat less new and therefore, from 
the birds' point of view, more habitable. 

Black knot on the plum trees can be discovered as soon as 
the leaves have dropped and November is a good time to cut 
it off. The limbs should be removed at a point below the knot 
and burned. 

If peach, plum and quince trees have been making a rapid 
growth, it is a good plan to nip off the ends of the branches. 
Quince trees are preferably grown in bush form. If four or five 
new sprouts are allowed to spring up from the ground each year 
and an equal amount of old wood cut away, the tree will con- 
stantly renew itself. 

The pompon chrysanthemums are the only fiowers left in 
November and their life may be prolonged by protecting them 
from the rain. It is the freezing of the water on the flowers that 
spoils them. 

It is easy to start new rose plants from cuttings made this 
month. Cuttings should come from new wood and be about 



202 THE COUNTRY HOME 

eight inches long. If tied in bunches and set upright in moist 
sand in a cool place, they will be ready for planting out in the 
spring. 

Most of the hardy lily bulbs arrive in this country in No- 
vember and should be planted at once. The loose scaled bulbs 
deteriorate more rapidly when kept out of the ground than the 
solid bulbs like tulips and narcissi. It is always a good plan 
to cover the ground where the lilies are to go with a coating of 
fresh manure before the earth freezes. Then there will be no 
difficulty in planting. In order to do their best, lilies should 
be planted deeper than ordinarily is the case. They can well 
be set from six to ten inches below the surface, and there should 
be a handful of sand at the bottom of the hole. 

Now that the leaves are off, it is a good time to look over the 
trees for egg clusters of various pests. In New England, gypsy 
moth eggs will be found not only on the trees, but on outbuild- 
ings, fences and brush heaps. It will pay to get rid of them at 
once. Old trees may be scraped to advantage, but not deeply 
enough to cause injury. A hoe or a regular scraping device may 
be used. The white, frothy masses of the tussock moth may be 
looked for on the various fruit trees. 

Rhubarb can be forced at any time during the winter in a 
warm cellar or in the greenhouse. Roots should be dug now 
and be allowed to freeze solid before forcing is attempted. It 
is best to have roots that are at least three years old. When it 



NOVEMBER 203 



is desired to start the roots into growth, they should he pkiced 
in a box of good garden soil and given a warm location and one 
which is nearly dark. Often a corner of the cellar can be shut 
off with some old boards or a heavy blanket. 1 here is no reason 
why the roots can not be simply set on the floor and earth heaped 
around them. The soil must be kept moist and the plants will 
take up water very rapidly. Growth will soon start and in five 
or six weeks there will be a supply of stalks ready for use. They 
will be blanched, however, and there will be very little leaf. 

Asparagus may be forced in the same way, although the roots 
are not to be frozen, and the seed stores now sell forcing crowns 
of sea kale, a vegetable which is popular on the other side of 
the water, but not very well known here. 

It is well to save all the leaves that can be gathered. They 
are valuable for use in the poultry house as litter and for bank- 
ing around the cold frames and hotbed. If needed for no other 
purpose, they are of no little value as fertilizer, especially if 
allowed to rot during the winter. Leaf mould is unsurpassed 
for house plants, 

NOVEMBER GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW GARDEN WORK 

Cyclamen bulbs started now will make good, strong plants. 
They may be secured at the seed stores and should be planted 
with the nose a little above the soil. It is worth while growing 
several cyclamen plants not only because they are attractive 



204 THE COUNTRY HOME 

in the window garden, but also because they provide an abun- 
dance of cut flowers all through the spring. These flowers in 
water will keep easily for a week or ten days, and often are 
more acceptable as gifts than some of the more common kinds 
that have a strong perfume. 

Paper white narcissi, Chinese lilies and the little dwarf 
tulips make excellent Christmas gifts and will be in flower at 
the holiday season if started the middle of this month. They 
may be retarded, if necessary, by keeping them cool. 

Before the ground freezes, a supply of good garden soil 
should be gathered. It will be needed later on. It will be an 
advantage, too. to go into the woods and secure a supply of leaf 
mould. 

The lily of the valley pips arrive from abroad in November 
and should be stored in sand until needed for forcing. Clumps, 
rather than pips, are used for the garden and may be set out in 
November. 

An abundance of fresh air for the violets both in the green- 
house and in cold frames will be needed until the weather gets 
very cold. 

Plant lice grow numerous in November in the window gar- 
den as well as in the greenhouse. Nicotine may be used as a 
weak spray, but with a few plants the leaves can be kept clean 
if they are washed frequently with soapsuds or even with water 
as hot as the hand can bear. If much soap is used, the plants 



NOVEMBER 205 



must be carefully rinsed afterward. An easy way to treat all 
house plants, when not in flower, is to cut a piece of cardboard 
so that it will fit over the mouth of the pot with a slit to receive 
the stem of the plant; using both hands to hold this cardboard 
in position, the plant may be dipped into a tub or bowl. 

Palms, ferns and rubber plants must be examined for scale, 
which is best removed with a stiff toothbrush. English ivy 
needs frequent sponging with soap and water, if it is to thrive. 
Often a spray of this ivy will make splendid growth if the roots 
are kept simply in a bowl of water. Rubber plants also need 
frequent cleaning. The use of a patent dustcloth, of which 
several kinds are now on the market, seems to give as good 
results as soap and water. It is a mistake to use olive oil or any 
similar substance with the idea of brightening the leaves. It 
simply clogs the pores. It is just as unwise to use bits of meat 
in the pots, for the meat soon decays. Often a plant may be 
benefited by the use of a good commercial plant food, the green 
of the foliage being deepened and the number of flowers 
increased. In some ways this fertilizer is preferable to liquid 
manure, although the latter gives excellent satisfaction. It 
may easily be made from pulverized sheep manure. 

When a plant actually refuses to show signs of improve- 
ment, it probably needs repotting, although not necessarily a 
larger pot. It is always well, however, to make sure that the 
trouble is not due to lack of drainage. If a pot is too large for 



206 THE COUNTRY FiOME 

the plant, the result will be the same, for the soil will become 
sour. 

This is the time to plan for a mushroom bed and mushrooms 
can easily be grown in a greenhouse under the benches. Fer- 
mented horse manure is needed, with about halt its bulk of 
straw. Mushroom growing is not as simple as often supposed 
and a good book on the subject should first be read before the 
work is undertaken, or else advice should be sought from the 
nearest experiment station. 

STABLE AND LIVESTOCK 

It is important to keep the livestock well bedded during the 
cold weather. Probably straw is best for the purpose, although 
swale hay, peat and leaves will answer. Shavings are some- 
times used, but when added to the soil, they have a tendency to 
make it sour. 

If the hay being fed the horses is at all dusty, it should be 
moistened. This is particularly true if the horse happens to 
have the heaves. 

In very cold weather the ensilage in the silo is likely to 
freeze, but this can be prevented to a large extent by keeping 
the silo tightly covered. Sometimes it is an advantage to throw 
a layer of hay over the top or to use a heavy canvas blanket. 
Throwing the ensilage to the middle of the silo is also a help. 
The frozen ensilage should be kept away from the sides and 



NOVEMBER 207 



the doors of the silo must be kept shut. Ensilage is not injured 
by freezing, but will spoil quickly after it thaws out. Ensilage 
may be fed to sheep and lambs to advantage. 

There should be a cutting machine in every barn where con- 
siderable live stock is kept. Oftentimes much waste is avoided 
by cutting hay, cornstalks and vegetables. Alfalfa hay run 
through the cutter is excellent for brood sows. If cut fine, it 
will make a splendid green ration, too, for poultry. 

With many people this is a favorite month for killing a fat 
hog or two for home use. It is the common custom to drive a 
knife into the throat of the beast and allow it to bleed to death. 
This custom is cruel and without justification. The humane 
way is either to shoot the animal with a rifle or to first stun it 
with a blow on the head. In either case, the throat should be cut 
immediately, to insure proper bleeding. Two hundred pounds 
is considered about the right weight, but the meat will be better 
if the hog is killed when it weighs only one hundred and 
seventy-five pounds. 

IN THE POULTRY YARD 

The pullets may often be induced to lay by feeding wet 
mash a few weeks, commencing a week or two before the date 
on which the eggs normally should begin to appear. Exactly 
the same mash as that commonly fed dry may be used and should 
be made just moist enough so that it will crumble in the hand, 



208 THE COUNTRY HOME 

when squeezed. Perhaps the best time to feed it is at noon and 
too much must be avoided or the hens will sit around for a long 
time instead of scratching in the litter for fine grain. 

A little ground bone is also an excellent stimulant for the 
■pullets, but it must be fed with care and, above all, it must be 
fresh. An ounce to a hen three times a week will be sufficient. 

Whereas it is wise not to feed a great amount of corn to 
growing chickens, it may be given much more liberally just 
before and after the pullets begin to lay. If a third of the 
scratch feed be corn, it will not be too much. 

It is advisable not to keep pullets and old hens in the same 
pen. 

If hens are found with scaly legs, the best treatment is 
dipping the legs into a pan containing a liquid obtained by 
pouring hot water on tobacco leaves of a cheap grade and allow- 
ing it to cool. This treatment may be carried out two or three 
times if necessary and the legs afterward rubbed with vaseline. 



DECEMBER 

T^hat time of year 

When yellow leaves^ or none^ or few, do hang 
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold. 

Bare ruin d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. 

— Shakespeare. 



DECEMBER 

THE big job of December is harvesting the ice crop, 
although in some seasons it is necessary to wait until a 
month later. The sooner the ice is in, however, the 
better. Few tools are required, a saw, axe, scoop, a pike pole or 
two, a sled or low-down wagon if the ice house is not on the edge 
of the pond, and some sixteen foot planks. The scoop is used 
to clear the surface of the ice, which is then marked off into 
squares two or two and a half feet wide. Next it is sawed into 
cakes, which are hauled out with an ice hook. The planks are 
needed for loading the cakes onto the sled or wagon. 

The ice house need not be large. If it is sixteen feet square 
it will hold enough ice for a dairy of forty cows. When it is 
being prepared for the crop, it is well to lay poles across the 
bottom to provide for drainage. Next a heavy covering of 
straw and sawdust will be needed for the ice to rest upon. The 
cakes should be packed closely, with broken pieces worked into 
the chinks. 

In order to keep out the air, a space six inches wide must 
be left all around the sides of the house, to be filled in with saw- 
dust and leaves, or sawdust alone, packed as tightly as possible. 
When the ice is all in place, sawdust or finely cut straw to the 

[211] 



212 THE COUNTRY HOME 

depth of a foot should be spread over the top. Thus packed, the 
ice will keep for a long time, but it is well to have a little venti- 
lation at the top to allow the escape of foul air. On many 
country places, a brook or small stream may be dammed so as 
to yield an abundance of ice. Solid water ice is always to be 
chosen. Snow ice melts much more quickly. 

Muddy, dirty barn yards, hog lots and sheep runs are to be 
deplored. Not only are they offensive to the eye, but they 
detract from the satisfaction of doing farm work and they are 
bad for the animals. There is often plenty of time late in the 
year, before the ground freezes hard, to put in a few tile drains, 
laying them below the frost line. The expense will be little 
and the results well worth it. If there is no low place where 
the water can naturally be carried, a deep blind well may be 
dug and the bottom filled with stones. Usually the water from 
the drains will soon seep away when led into such a well. 
Gravel or coal cinders spread on the ground will help keep it in 
sanitary condition. 

Automobiles are not very satisfactory winter vehicles. 
When they are put away for the winter, they should be thor- 
oughly cleaned and the bright parts covered with boiled linseed 
oil to prevent rusting. Then they should be jacked up in order 
that there may be no weight on the tires and the latter may be 
partially deflated. 

The winter is an excellent time for manuring the orchard. 



DECEMBER 213 



but it is not advisable to fertilize young trees heavily, or wood 
growth will be forced too much. 

If there is a wood lot, now is the time to get out the fire- 
wood, as well as to cut posts for the next season. If cedar posts 
with the bark on are to be used for an arbor or pergola, it is 
always best to cut them in cold weather, for the bark sticks 
better. 

Peach trees that are beginning to fail may as well be pulled 
up now. It is best to give the new peach orchard a different 
location. 

This is a good time to spray all fruit trees for San Jose scale, 
using prepared lime sulphur wash or one of the soluble oils. 

In the South, most of the fall vegetables may be sown this 
month. Peas, spinach, radishes, lettuce and endive may go 
into the ground, and tomatoes, egg plants and peppers may be 
started in spent hotbeds. Nut trees may be planted to ad- 
vantage in December. 

GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW GARDEN 

It is advisable to sow radishes once in ten days, in order to 
have a constant succession. This applies to lettuce, too. 
Grand Rapids and Early Dutch Butter are good varieties of 
lettuce for forcing. 

Gladiolus bulbs planted now will bloom in March. The 
seedsmen should be asked for kinds suitable for forcing. 



214 THE COUNTRY HOME 

A new lot of bulbs should be brought into heat every week 
or two. Only the Due Van Thol tulips can be forced success- 
fully until after the new year. The paper white narcissus and 
the tulips just mentioned, as well as the Chinese lily and the 
single hyacinths, may be grown in water, and the plan is a 
particularly good one when the flowers are to be used for house 
decoration. China or glass bowls are used and nearly filled 
with fine pebbles, in which the bulbs are set. All the bulbs 
named, except the Chinese lily, must then be set in a cool, dark 
place until they have made a heavy growth of roots. The 
hyacinths are often forced in special glasses designed for the 
purpose, but it may be necessary to keep them in the dark for 
six weeks or two months. The water in the glasses should 
barely touch the bottom of the bulbs and should contain a few 
pieces of charcoal. 

When the water in the bowls or glasses needs changing, it 
must be flooded out by turning more in. If an attempt to pour 
it out is made, the rootlets will be broken off. 

When potted bulbs are brought into heat, it is best not to 
expose them to bright light at first, or to keep them very warm. 
Watering with warm water will hasten growth, but it is best 
to keep the bulbs from direct sunlight until the flowers begin to 
open. 

Large hyacinths may be grown in a single five-inch pot. 
Smaller specimens look better if there are four in a six-inch pot. 



DECEMBER 2 1 5 



Eight or ten weeks are required to make a good root growth. 
Shorter time is needed for tulips and paper white narcissi. 
When they are grown in water, a week or ten days in the dark 
is sufficient. The narcissi are so easy to grow that it is well to 
keep right on forcing them up to the first of March. Soft, and 
preferably rain, water is the best to use. 

The Easter lily should be started not later than the first of 
December in order to have it in bloom on Easter Day. 

The calla lily should be in flower soon, if kept in a rather 
warm, light position, without too much sun. Tepid water 
should be given freely, but not allowed to stand in the saucer. 

Hydrangeas must be brought into the greenhouse late in 
December, if they are to be grown for Easter. 

When the chrysanthemums have ceased blooming, they may 
be cut back and stored in a cool place under the greenhouse 
benches, or even in a cold frame. Geraniums, bouvardias and 
carnations may take their place. 

This is the month to make cuttings of crotons, dracaenas, 
rubber plants, and Glorie de Lorraine begonias. The last 
named are best started from leaf cuttings. 

When applying water to Glorie de Lorraine plants, it is 
well to exercise care not to wet the leaves. 

Cinerarias and calceolarias do not thrive in a warm green- 
house. A night temperature of about 4^ suits them. 

It is necessary to fumigate the greenhouse twice a month or 



216 THE COUNTRY HOME 

nearly as often. Any one of the tobacco preparations now on 
the market may be used. 

More house plants suffer from over than from under water- 
ing. When the soil becomes dry, water should be given until 
it runs into the saucer. No more will be needed until the soil 
is seen to be dry again. 

When mold appears on the pots, they should be washed, or 
evaporation will be checked. 

The best plants for a shady window are the begonias, rubber 
plants, camelias, ferns, and the ivies. The Chinese primrose 
will do well in partial shade. 

If plants become frozen, they should be dipped in cold 
water or sprinkled as soon as discovered and kept in a cool 
place out of the sun until they have thawed out. Several thick- 
nesses of newspaper wrapped around house plants will protect 
them from considerable cold. When the temperature turns 
low it is well to place a newspaper or two against the glass in a 
window where plants are growing. 

It must be remembered that plants need fresh air even at 
this season. Those near a window naturally get more than 
those at a distance, but it is well to open doors or windows for 
a few minutes each day, care being taken that the air does not 
blow directly on the plants. 

H)^drangeas for late blooming should be watered only 
enough to keep the soil from drying out. It is the resting season 



DECEMBER 2 1 7 



and a cool, light cellar, or a cool greenhouse is a good place for 
wintering them. 

LIVESTOCK AND STABLE 

All the livestock should be on full winter rations by the first 
of December. Grain is expensive these days and it is well 
worth while making a careful study of the feeding question. 
Usually important information may be obtained from the 
nearest experiment station or agricultural college. The pro- 
fessors at these institutions fairly beg people to ask questions. 
It is a fine thing for the man who owns a country home if he can 
take the short winter course at one of the state colleges. Some- 
times there is a son or a daughter who can find time for this. 

The quantity of feed required by cows will depend upon 
the amount of milk they give. It is estimated that a cow yield- 
ing ten quarts a day will require five quarts of the following 
mixture twice a day: Three parts wheat bran, one part corn 
meal, one part cottonseed meal, by measure. In addition, there 
should be ensilage, hay or other roughage. 

It is better to have the heifers freshen at two and a half than 
at two years. 

Lime water made by slacking twenty pounds of lime in a 
barrel of water, where it may be allowed to stand until it clears, 
will prove efficacious in cleaning all the dairy utensils. It is 
important to exercise constant precaution, or milk and butter 



218 THE COUNTRY HOME 

will be off in flavor at this season. The flavor is also easily 
affected by the feed and such vegetables as turnips are not to 
be fed freely. 

The kitchen waste, including the dish water (if it is free 
from soap and washing powder) will go a long ways toward 
keeping one or two brood sows. Bran and middlings may be 
added as needed. Some roots like turnips and carrots, will be 
beneficial and it is well to keep a little earth or a sod or two in 
the pen at all times. Ashes, salt and charcoal are needed, too, 
and if some straw or some strawy horse manure is thrown into 
the pen occasionally, the animals will get needed exercise 
working it over. Shavings make good bedding and a trough 
which can not be tipped over should be provided. It is well to 
burn this trough occasionally and build a new one. The idea 
that a hog must live in filth has no foundation. This animal is 
naturally quite as cleanly as the other farm stock. 

In winter the pigs can be kept free from lice only by spray- 
ing them. Kerosene emulsion does the work well and an appli- 
cation is needed every two or three weeks. 

Brush and cloth are sufficient for use when cleaning colts. 
The curry comb is too harsh. 

Molasses may be fed the horses and cows at this season to 
advantage. It adds to the palatability of the other rations, be- 
sides having much nutritive value of its own. 

If the harness is oiled frequently in cold weather it will be 



DECEMBER 219 



easier to handle, for it will not get stiff, and it will also last 
longer. 

DECEMBER POULTRY WORK 

At this season, when the days are short, the hens spend much 
more of their time on the perches than off. While daylight 
lasts, it is important to keep them busy all the time. With a 
deep litter on the floor and the whole or cracked grain thrown 
into it, they will be forced to scratch for their rations and in 
that manner will obtain the exercise they require. If a wet 
mash is given, there should not be enough of it to entirely sat- 
isfy the hunger of the birds, or they will stand around in a 
corner instead of working in the litter. Sometimes lazy hens 
will fill up on dry mash rather than scratch for whole grain; in 
that event, keep the dry mash hopper closed until noon. 

It is difficult to tell just how much scratch grain to feed. 
On general principles, a small handful to a hen is about right, 
but it is well to stir the litter occasionally with the foot in 
order to ascertain whether any of the grain is to be found on the 
floor. If too much time is spent at the dry mash hopper, it may 
be an indication that sufficient scratch grain is not being given. 

As the litter becomes packed, more should be added; some 
poultry keepers fork the litter over frequently in order to retard 
its packing. Heavy hens will work in deeper litter than the 
light breeds. 



220 THE COUNTRY HOME 

A dark house may be made somewhat lighter by whitewash- 
ing all the interior walls. The addition of a little carbolic acid 
will incidentally help to exterminate insect pests. Whitewash 
may be easily applied with a spray pump if not made too thick. 
When only a little is needed, lime for it may be purchased in 
five and ten cent packages, one package being enough for a pail 
of whitewash. 

A nest for each five hens is none too many when the birds 
are laying well. It should preferably be twelve or fourteen 
inches square. A dust box of ample size is also needed and it is 
well to place it where it will receive the sun much of the day. 

The curtains or windows should be closed only in very cold 
weather or while a storm is in progress. Fresh air is of vital im- 
portance to poultry. 

The hens which remain on the roost last in the morning and 
return to them first at night are not likely to be good layers. 
The hens which eat most, lay most. If you find several hens on 
the roosts night after night with only partially filled crops, it is 
safe to say that they are not paying their way. 

It is well to scald the feed and water dishes several times a 
month, even in winter. 

The poultry feeder should beware of new corn. It may be 
safely fed, however, if it is first put into the oven and parched. 
The hens will relish it, too, if it is fed warm. Warm corn is, 
in fact, a sort of gentle stimulant. 



DECEMBER 221 



Banking up the poultry house will help to stop draughts. 
It is a good plan. It is not too late to stop leaks in the roof. 
Dampness and draughts are two things to be carefully avoided. 

Geese for the Christmas feast should be fattened several 
weeks. It is necessary only to shut the birds into rather small 
yards and feed them a ration of three parts corn meal to one 
part bran, with some beef scraps added, and to supply water in 
abundance for drinking purposes. 

This also is the month to buy breeding geese, for they need 
to be mated several months before the laying season begins. 
Breeders should be at least three years old and they commonly 
are mated in pairs, although a mature gander will run with 
three geese. With these birds, a mating usually lasts for life, 
unless they are forcibly separated. Geese will live to be very 
old, but it is not well to keep a gander more than six or seven 
years, for he is likely to become quarrelsome, if not vicious, as 
he grows older. Geese require only a rough shelter and are 
profitable when they can have wide range. 

This is an excellent month to buy breeding cockerels. 

Eggs should be collected several times a day in cold weather. 
They may freeze if left too long in the nests. 

It is well worth while paying a visit to the nearest large 
poultry show, which probably will be held this month or next. 
You will be almost certain to pick up some valuable informa- 
tion, besides having a good time. If you keep a certain estab- 



222 THE COUNTRY HOME 

lished breed and are interested in good stock, it is also worth 
while joining the club made up of men and women who have 
selected the same breed that you have. And once having made 
a selection, it is well to stick to it. There is less in the breed 
itself than in the way it is handled. 



APPENDIX 



T 



EXPERIMENT STATIONS 

HE owners of country homes will find it greatly to their advantage to keep 
in close touch with the experiment stations nearest them. The various 
stations are located at the places named below: 



Alabama — Auburn, Uniontown, and 
Tuskegee. 

Alaska — Sitka. 

Arizona — Tucson. 

Arkansas — Fayetteville. 

California — Berkeley. 

Colorado — Fort Collins. 

Connecticut — Storrs and New Haven. 

Delaware — Newark. 

Florida — Lake City. 

Georgia — Experiment. 

Hawaii — Honolulu. 

Idaho — Moscow. 

Illinois — Urbana. 

Indiana — Lafayette. 

Iowa — Ames. . . 

Kansas — Manhattan, 

Kentucky — Lexington. 

Louisiana — Baton Rouge, New Or- 
leans, and Calhoun. 

Maine — Orono. 

Maryland — College Park. 

Massachusetts — Amherst. 

Michigan — Agricultural College. 

Minnesota — St. Anthony Park, St. 
Paul. 

Mississippi — Agricultural College. 



Missouri — Columbia and Mountain 

Grove. 
Montana— Bozeman. 
Nebraska — Lincoln. 
Nevada — Reno. 
New Hampshire — Durham. 
New Jersey — New Brunswick. 
New Mexico — Mesilla Park. 
New York — Geneva and Ithaca. 
North Carolina — Raleigh. 
North Dakota — Agricultural College 
Ohio — Wooster. 
Oklahoma — Stillwater. 
Oregon — Corvallis. 
Pennsylvania — State College. 
Porto Rico — Mayaguez. 
Rhode Island — Kingston. 
South Carolina — Clemson College. 
South Dakota — Brookings. 
Tennessee — Knoxville. 
Texas — College Station. 
Utah — Logan. 
Vermont — Burlington. 
Virginia — Blacksburg. 
Washington — Pullman. 
West Virginia — Morgantown. 
Wisconsin — Madison. 
Wyoming — Laramie. 



[223] 



224 



THE COUNTRY HOME 



PERIOD OF GESTATION IN ANIMALS 

Mare 1 1 to 12 months. 

Cow 9 to ^1/2 months ( 285 days) . 

Sheep and goat 5 months (21 weeks). 

Sow 4 months. 

Dog 2 months. 

Cat 50 days. 

Rabbit 30 days. 

INCUBATION PERIODS 

Common hen 21 days 

Partridge 24 days 

Pheasant 25 days 

Guinea hen 25 days 

Common duck 28 days 

Pea hen 28 days 

Turkey 28 days 

Goose 30 days 

STANDARD WEIGHTS OF POULTRY IN POUNDS 



Plymouth Rocks, all varieties. . . , 

VVyandottes, all varieties , 

Rhode Island Red 

Buckeye , 

Brahma, Light 

Brahma, Dark 

Cochins, all varieties 

Langshans, all varieties 

Minorca, Single-comb Black 

Minorca, Single-comb White and 

Rose-comb Black 

Blue Andalusians 

Redcap 

Orpingtons, all varieties 

Houdan 

Cornish , 

White-laced Red 



Cock 



9-5 

8.5 

9-5 
9.0 

12.0 

II.O 
II.O 

9-5 
9.0 

8.0 
6.0 

7-5 

lO.O 

7-5 
9.0 

8.0 



Cockerel 



8.0 

7-5 
8.0 

8.0 

lO.O 

9.0 
9.0 
8.0 

7-5 

6.5 
50 
6.0 

8.5 
6.5 
8.0 
7.0 



Hen 



Pullet 



7-5 


6.0 


6.5 


5-5 


7-5 


6.5 


6.0 


50 


9-5 


8.0 


8.5 


7.0 


8.5 


7.0 


7-5 


6.5 


7-5 


6.5 


6.5 


5.5 


50 


4.0 


6.0 


50 


8.0 


7.0 


6.5 


5-5 


7.0 


6.0 


6.0 


50 



PLANTING TABLE FOR VEGETABLE 



Name 



Asparagus 

Asparagus plants. 
Beans (bush) . . . . 

Beans (pole) 

Beets 

Cabbage (early) . . 
Cabbage (late) . . . 

Carrot 

Cauliflower 

Celery 

Corn 

Cucumber 

Egg Plant 

Endive 



When to Plant 



Indoors 



March. 



Kale. 



Lettuce. . . . 
Muskmeion. 



Melon (Watermelon) 



March. 

March. 

April. 

March. 

March. 



Feb. -March. 

April. 



Onions. 
I'arsley. 
Parsnip. 
Peas . . . . 
Peppers. 



Potato (Irish). 



Pumpkin 

Radish 

Rhubarb Roots 

Salsify (Oyster Plant 

Spinach 

Squash 



February. 



March. 



Tomato. 



Turnip . 



Feb.-March. 



March. 



Outdoors 



April. 

April-May. 

May-August. 

May. 

April-August. 

May. 

May. 

April-July. 

May. 

May-June. 

May-June. 

April-July. 



April -September. 
May. 

April-Aug. 10. 
May-June. 

May-June. 

April. 

April. 

April. 

March-June. 

May-June. 
(Set out plants.) 

May-June. 

May-July. 

April- Sept ember. 

Spring or Fall. 

April. 

Mar.-May and Oct. 

May-June. 

May-June. 

April-July. 



I o 
50-8 

1 P 
Hp 

2 

}4 o 

'A o 

I o 

Ya o. 
Va o 
Ya P' 
V2 o; 

1/3 
I o 
I o 

^ o. 

Va o: 

15 

Vz C. 

15 

I 
Vz o: 
Vz O 

I q 

1/3 

1 pk 

IC 

Vz o 

15 

I 0, 

30 

I 
I 

Vz O 

Va o 
25 



PLANTING TABLE FOR FLOWERS. 



ich iOO mile. South o 
arae. ihe Utter beia 



Achillea (Sneeiewort) . 
Ageralum 



Alysum (Annual) 

Alysum (Perennial) 

Aquilegia (Columbine). 
Asters (China) 



Camjianula (Canterbury Bells). 
Celosia (Cockscomb) 



Candytuft 

Centaurea (Corn flower) . 



Clirysanlliemum (Annual). 

Cobea 

Cobmos (liaily) 



Cosmos (Late) 

Dahlia 

Uelpliinium (Larkspur). 



Diantlius (I'inks) 

IJigilalib ( [■"oxglovc) 

Lsclischoltzia iCalifoinia 

poppy) 

Gaillardia 

Guards 

1-our O'Clocks 

Gypsopliilia 

Helianilius (Sunflower).... 

Hollyhock 

Kochia (Summer Cypress). 
Larkspur (Annual) 



Lobelia., 



Marigold.... 
Mignonette. , 



Myosotis (Forget-me-not). 



Nnsliirtium 

Nicotiana (Tobacco plant) . 
Pansy 



Pblox (Annual).. 
Poppy (Annual) . 



Sa1piglc»ssi5. , 



Scabiosa (Mourning Bride). 

Stocks 

Sweet Pea 



When to Plant 



April. 

March. 

April. 



April. 

A^ich-April, 
April. 
April. 



March-April. 

i\I arch- April. 

April. 

April. 
March-April. 

March-April. 



April. 
Aiarch-May. 

rcb.-April. 

March-April. 



April. 

Feb. -March. 

April. 

I- eb.- April. 



Jiint-Oci. 
.May- 
May-June. 
June-Sc|>l. 
June is-bcpt. 
May-June. 

May. 
May-June. 



May 15- 
lune 1 
April. 



May. 
June. 
June-Aug. 

May. 
July-Aug. 

.May. 

May. 

May. 

May. 

May. 

iMay. 

June 15-July. 

April, 

.May-June. 

May. 

May. 
May. 



May. 
May. 
April-Ott, 



June-Sei.t. 
May- July. 



May. 

May. 
May. 
May. 
May, 
March-April. 

May. 
May. 



Distance 

Apart 
(Inches) 



• ttrtedinthehouie. 

llhtriny,,rTdllti. 



July-Oct. 
June-Oct. 

Tune-Oct. 

July-Oct. 

lunc-Scpt. 

July-Oct. 



JuneOct. 
lune-Oct. 

h.ly Oct. 

July-Oct, 
July-Sept. 

Setit.-Oct. 

A UK, -Oct. 
July-Oct. 

July-Oct. 
luly-Aug. 

luly-Aug. 
Iitly Sept. 
Sept. -Oct. 
luly-Sept, 
Tuly-Sept. 
July-Oct. 
.•\ug.-Sept. 

June- Sept. 

June-Sept. 

luly-Oct. 
July-Oct. 



June Oct. 
fuly-Oa. 
April-Oct. 



uly-Oct. 

unt-S^pt. 



July-Sept. 
liiiieOct. 

July-Sept, 



Blue, 



white. 



White. 
Vdlow. 

White, yellow, blue, pink. 
White, pink, yellow, red, 

purple, lavender. 
Kcd. white, pink, yellow, 

Vellow, orange. 

Vellow, brown. 

Blue, pink, white. 
White, red, pink, yellow. 

Pink, white, red, purple. 

lilue, white, pink. 

White, yellow, red. 

Purple. 

White, red, pink. 

White, pink, red. 
White, yellow, pink. red. 
Blue, yellow, wnite. 

White, red, striped. 
Pink, white, blue. 

^ (filow, orange. 

Yellow, red. 

Fruit-bearing. 

White, pink, yellow. 

White. 

Vellow. 

White, red, yellow, pink. 



Ked, white, blue, pink. 
Uluc, white. 
Brown, red, yellow. 



Blue, pink, white. 

\'.iiiouj colors. 
White, pink. 
Many colors. 

Red, pink, white. 

Red, wlhite, yellow, pink. 
Red, v^hile. pink, yellow. 

Red. wlhiie, pink, yellow. 
Red. pink, yellow, white. 



White. 
Scarlet 
White, ji-i.u.., |....... 

Piuk. w hitc. icarlel, yellow 
Many rolors, 



red, blue, pink. 
" , white, pink. 



A ptrcnnial. two feel high. The Pearl is a 
good variety. 

Annual, crown from seeds or cuttings. Fine 
for borders. Blues are most popular 

Lxcelleiit annual for borders. 

L'sL-d for edgings and rock work. 

Hardy perennial. Hlooinb the second year. 

Bcldins annual. Use wood ashes when setting 
plants. * 

Annual, to grow in clumps in the sun. 

liasily grown annuals, that self-sow. Fill va- 
cant spots with them. 

Showy annuals, guod for cutting. Easy to 
grow, but they like the sun. 

Perennial, blooming the second year. 

Annual. Combs may be dried for winter 
bouquets. 

beds, borders or 1 



Make 
Keep 



ihy 



successive sowings. 
Annual, to grow m masses. Self-sown. 

flowers picked. 
Annuals, for massing at a distance. 
Climbing vine. Plant seeds edgewise. 
Tender annuals. Pinch back to make 

plants. 

Tie to stakes if exposed to winds, 
l.ate-slarted plants give largest flowers. 
1-inc tall perennials. Bloom the second year. 

Blues are best. 
Perennial, hloominc the first year. 
Fine in hardy border. Bluom the second year. 

Do not transplant. Foliage is pretty. 

Showy perennial, for beds. 

ICxeellent to hide unsightly objects. 

Annuals, for borders or beds. 

I'inc lo use in bouiiuets. Grow Elegant. 

Make a good screen. Try the new kinds. 

I'crcnnial. Spray with Bordeaux, 

The foliage turns red in the fall. 

Grow in masses. The flowers arc good for cut- 
ting. 

Lobelia Erinus is very popular for low edgings, 
it is blue. Use manure water lor Lobelias. 

Showy, easily-grown annuals. 

I'lowers very fragrant. Make successive sow- 
ings. Like cool soil, 

Perennial, but blooms the first season. Likes 
shade and moist soil. 

One of the best annuals. 

Tall, fragrant annuals, opening toward evening. 

Give a rich, cool, moist soil and keep the blos- 
soms picked. 

One of the most freeflowering annuals. Don't 
neglect watering. 

One of the best low annuals. 

Very attractive. Do not transplant. Make 
successiva sowings. 

Fine to give bright colors. 

Unexcelled for dry, sandy and sunny spots. 
Close at night. 

Grow in masses. Good to cut. 

Very ornamental annual. Best started in the 
house in pots. 

Good mid-summer annual and easy to grow. 
e a green background and rich, sandy soil. 
:E-floweiing annual. 

Good fof beds and to cut. 

it early in rich, moist soil, in the open, 
atcr. mulch the roots, 

Splendid annual for bedding in the sun. 

" d summer plant for beds, and very ea«y to 



PLANTING TABLE FOR VEGETABLES. 



Good for (he latitude of New York. Allow 10 days for each 100 mile* North or South, 
rarticularly adapted to tmall gardens where work is done by hand. 



A^l>aragus 

Asparagus plants. 

Bcaos (bush) 

Beans (pole) 

Beets 

Cabbage (early). . 
Cabbage (late)... 

Carrot 

Cauliflower 

Celery 

Corn 

Cucumber 

Egg Plant 

Endive 

Kale 

Lettuce 

Muskmelon 



March. 
March. 
April. 
March, 



Melon (Watermelon) 



Onions. . 
raraley. . 
Parsnip.. 
Peas .... 



Peppers 

Potato (Irish). 



Pumpkin. 

Kadifih 

Rhubarb Roots 

Salsify (Oyster Plant 

Spinach 

Squash 



Tomato. , 
Turnip. . 



Feb.-March. 
April. 



April. 

April -May. 

May-August. 

May. 

April-August. 

May. 

May. 

April- July. 

May. 

Mayjuue. 

May-June. 

April-July. 



April-Septcuiber 
May. 

April-Aug. 10. 
May-June. 

May-June. 

April. 
April, 

April. 
March- June, 



May-June. 

May-July, 

April-Seplemher. 

Spring or Tall. 

April, 

Mar-May and Oct. 

May-June. 



May -June. 

.Vpril-July. 



Seed Needed 
tor 100 Pt. 



ipt. 

y^ Pt, 

2 or, 

'4oz. 
'A oz. 



'4 oz. 
Vtpt. 



I oz. 

iqt, 

1/3 oz. 



Yi 02. for 
15 hills. 



Distance 
(Inches) 



'A 


6 


•A 


6 


•A 


6 


'•A 


Thick 


'A 


J ft. 


Early i 
Latcs 


12 or more 


iK 


Hills 6 ft. 



3 to 6 
3 to 4 ft. 



2Q 

4 to 8 
30 to 35 

Hills 4 ft. 

2i to 36 
6 to 13 
24 



irly "cukes" by starting seeds in the house 
1 a cold frame, 
a long '■ 



tie up t 
reeks bel 



Give asparagus rich, well-drained soil. 

Plant one-year-old roots and grow two years before 

cutting. Mulch with manure in the fall. 
Make successive plaiitijigs. 

Plant several kinds to determine which succeeds 

best in your soil. 
Plant an abundance to allow for beet greens. Use 

Early Egyptian. 
For very early cabbages sow seed in the hot bed 

and transplant to cold frame in March, 
Be sure to try the Savoy. It is unrivalled. 

Grow French Forcing and plant for a successioji. 

Danvers' Half-long is good for winter. 
Likes a cool, rich, motst soil. 

Grow Paris Golden for an early crop and Boston 

Market later. 
Golden Bantam planted every two weeks will give 

a Ir "■ — 

Get e 

Needs 

Grow like lettu. . 

them two or three weeks before wanted. 
Kale is best after the frost has touched it. 

Must be grown rapidly to he good. 



Plant Danvers' Yellow Globe and keep the ground 

well cultivated. 
Soak the seed over night in lukewarm water. 

Use the Student in the home garden. 

Make the ground very ^e and plant for a suc- 
cession. 
Must be started under cover. 



Irish Cobbler is a good early sort and Green Moun- 
tain a reliable late variety. 

Pumpkins may be planted in the corn or beside 

the compost heap. 
Plant every ten days for a long season. 

Rhubarb craves heavy feeding with manure evei-y 

fall. 
May be left in the ground like parsnips until 

spring- 
Sowed in the fall and covered with a light litter 
pinach will civc an early spring crop, 
iw on the edge of the garden and let the vines 
un on the grass to save garden space. 

Feed the plants during the season instead of maJc- 
g the ground very rich. 

w Extra Early White Milan and White Egg, 



APPENDIX 



225 



LEGHORNS, ANCONA, POLISH, HAMRURGS, GAMES, SUMATRA, SULTAN, FRIZZLE, NO 

STANDARD WEIGHTS 



Cock 



Turkey, Bronze . . 
Narragansett . 
White Holland 
Bourbon Red . 



36 
30 
28 

30 



Cockerel 



33 
20 

20 

22 



Hen 



25 
18 

18 

18 



Pullet 



20 
12 

14 



Duck, Pekin 

Aylesbury . . . 

Rouen 

Cayuga 

Muscovy .... 
Indian Runner 



Adult 


Young 


Adult 


Young 


Drake 


Drake 


Duck 


Duck 


9 


8 


8 


7 


9 


8 


8 


7 


9 


8 


8 


7 


8 


7 


7 


6 


10 


8 


7 


6 


4-5 


. . * . 


4-5 


> • • • 



CORNELL RATION FOR EGG-PRODUCTION 



200 lbs. wheat 

200 lbs. cracked corn 
TOO lbs. oats 



60 lbs. wheat middlings, 

60 lbs. corn meal 

50 lbs. beef scraps 

30 lbs. wheat bran 

TO lbs. alfalfa meal . . . . 

10 lbs. linseed oil meal . 

7 lbs. salt 



Grain fed in deep litter sparingly in morning and 
freely at night. 



-Ground feed in hopper, afternoon. 



Proportion, about 2 lbs. grain to i lb. ground feed. 

Cabbage, beets, sprouted oats or grass ; oyster shells ; grit ; water. 



226 THE COUNTRY HOME 



USUAL DISTANCES APART FOR PLANTING VEGETABLES 

Artichoke — Rows 3 or 4 ft. apart, 2 to 3 ft. apart in the row. 

Asparagus — Rows 3 to 4 ft. apart, i to 2 ft. apart in the row. 

Beans, Bush — i ft. apart in rows, 2 to 3 ft. apart. 

Beans, Pole — 3 to 4 ft. each way. 

Beet, Early — In drills 12 to 18 in. apart. 

Beet, Late — In drills 2 to 3 ft. apart. 

Broccoli — 13^x2^ ft. to 2x3 ft. 

Cabbage, Early — 16x28 in. to 18x30 in. 

Cabbage, Late — 2x3 ft. to 2><x3i/^ ft. 

Carrot — In drills i to 2 ft. apart. 

Cauliflower — 2x2 ft. to 2x^ ft. [in. each way. 

Celery — Rows 3 to 4 ft. apart, 6 to 9 in. in the row ; "new celery culture," yx.y 

Corn, Salad — In drills 12 to 18 in. apart. 

Corn, Sweet — Rows 3 to 3^ ft. apart, 9 in. to 2 ft. in the row. 

Cress — In drills 10 to 12 ft. apart. 

Cucumber — 4 to 5 ft. each way. 

Egg-Plant — T,x^ ft. Endive — 2x1 ft. to ixi^^ ft. 

NUMBER OF PLANTS REQUIRED TO SET AN ACRE OF GROUND 

AT GIVEN DISTANCES 

Inches Plants Inches Plants 

IX I 6,272,640 2x 4 784,080 

1x2 3,136,320 2x 5 627,269 

IX 3 2,090,880 2x 6 522,720 

IX 4 1,568,160 2x 7 448,045 

IX 5 1,254,528 2x 8 392,040 

IX 6 1,045,440 2x 9 348,480 

1x7 896,091 2x10 313.632 

1x8 784,080 2XII 285,120 

IX 9 696,960 2X12 261,360 

ixio 627,269 3x 3 606,960 

ixii 570,240 3^4 522,720 

IX12 522,720 3x5 4^8,175 

2x 2 1,568,160 3x 6 348.480 

2x 3 1,045440 3x 7 298,607 



APPENDIX 227 



SEED TABLES 

QUANTITY OF SEED REQUIRED TO SOW AN ACRE 

Asparagus 4 or 5 lbs. or i oz. for 50 ft. of drill. 

Beans, dwarf in drills 1J.2 bu. 

Beans, pole in drills 10 to 12 qts. 

Beet in drills 5 to 6 lbs. 

Buckwheat in drills I bu. 

Cabbage in beds to transplant M ^b. 

Carrot in drills 2 to 4 .lbs. 

Cauliflower 1 oz. of seed for 1,000 plants. 

Celery i oz. for 2,000 plants. 

Clover for orchards 8 to 16 lbs. 

Clover, crimson for orchards and vineyards. . 8 to 16 lbs. 

Corn in hills 8 to 10 qts. 

Cow- Pea broadcast 2 bu. 

Cucumber in hills 2 lbs. 

Cress, water in drills 2 to 3 lbs. 

Cress, upland in drills 2 to 3 lbs. 

Egg-Plant I oz. of seed for 1,000 plants. 

Grass for lawns 2 to 4 bu. 

Kale or Sprouts 3 to 4 lbs. 

Lettuce i oz. of seed for 1,000 plants. 

Melon, musk in hills 2 to 3 lbs. 

Melon, water , in hills 4 to 5 lbs. 

Mustard broadcast >< bu. 

Onion in drills 5 to 6 lbs. 

Onion Seed, for sets in drills 30 lbs. 

Onion Sets in drills 6 to 12 bu. 

Orchard Grass 20 to 30 lbs. 

Parsnip in drills 4 to 6 lbs. 

Peas in drills i to 2 bu. 

Peas broadcast 2 to 3 bu. 

Potato (cut-tubers) 7 to 8 bu. 

Pumpkin in hills 4 to 5 lbs. 

Radish in drills 8 to 10 lbs. 

Rye for orchards i to i ^ j bu. 



228 THE COUNTRY HOME 

Sage in drills 8 to lo lbs. 

Salsify in drills 8 to lo lbs. 

Spinach in drills lo to I2 lbs. 

Squash, bush in hills 4 to 6 lbs. 

Squash, running in hills 3 to 4 lbs. 

Tomato to transplant M 1^- 

Turnip in drills i to 2 lbs. 

Turnip broadcast 3 to 4 lbs. 

Vetch I bu. 

AVERAGE TIME REQUIRED FOR GARDEN SEED TO GERMINATE 

Plant Days Plant Days 

Bean 5 — 10 Lettuce 6 — 8 

Beet 7 — 10 Onion 7 — 10 

Cabbage 5 — 10 Pea 6 — 10 

Carrot 12 — 18 Parsnip 10 — 20 

Cauliflower 5 — 10 Pepper 9 — 14 

Celery 10—20 Radish 3 — 6 

Corn 5 — 8 Salsify 7 — 12 

Cucumber 6 — 10 Tornato 6 — 12 

Endive 5 — 10 Turnip 4 — 8 

WEIGHT AND SIZE OF GARDEN SEEDS 

Seed 

Angelica 

Anise 

Asparagus bean (Delichos Sasquipedalis) 

Balm ." 

Basil 

Bean ^24.26 to 33.01 

Beet 

Borage : 

Borecole 

Broccoli 

Cabbage 



^^eight 


Size 


5-825 


II.OI 


11.65 


12.96 


29.90 


32.40 to 42.12 


21.35 


129.60 


20.58 


51-84 


3301 


*4.86to 5.18 


9.71 


3-24 


18.74 


4.21 


27.18 


19.44 


27.18 


24.30 


27.18 


19.44 



In 100 grains. 



APPENDIX 



229 



MATURITY TABLE FOR VEGETABLES 

Days from seed 

Beans, string 45-65 

Beans, shell 65-70 

Beets, long, blood 1 50 

Cabbage, early . , 105 

Cabbage, late 150 

Cauliflower no 

Corn 75 

Egg-plant 1 50-160 

Lettuce 65 

Melon, water 120-140 

Melon, musk 120-140 

Onion 135-150 Squash, summer 60-65 

Pepper 140-150 Squash, winter 125 

Pumpkin 100-125 Tomatoes 150 

Radish 30-45 Turnips 60-70 

ANALYSES COMPILED FROM VARIOUS RELIABLE SOURCES 

GENERAL ANALYSES OF FRUITS AND FRUIT-PLANTS 



Apples 

Apricots 

Austrian Grapes 

Cultivated Strawberries 
Cultivated Raspberries . 

Green Grapes 

Heart-Cherries 

Mulberries 

Peaches 

Pears 

Red Currants 

Red Gooseberries 

Wild Raspberries 

Wild Strawberries 



3 


7S. 
'0 


tn 



C 

< 


u 

C 


Poetter's 
substance 


Soluble 
matter 


u 


6.83 


.85 


• 45 


• 47 


14.96 


81.04 


1-531 


.766 




399 


9-283 


12.723 


82.125 


13.78 


1.020 




832 


-498 


16.49 


79-997 


7-575 


I -133 




359 


.119 


9.666 


87.474 


4.708 


I -356 




544 


1.746 


8.835 


86.557 


2.96 


.96 




477 


10.475 


15-19 


80.841 


13. II 


-351 




903 


2.286 


17-25 


75-37 


9-193 


1.86 




394 


2.031 


14-043 


84.707 


1-580 


.612 




463 


6.313 


9-39 


84-99 


7.00 


-074 




26 


3.281 


10.90 


83-95 


4-78 


2.31 




45 


.28 


8.36 


85.84 


8.063 


1-358 




441 


9-69 


I I . 148 


85-565 


3.599 


1.980 




646 


1. 107 


7-500 


83.86 


3-247 


1-650 




619 


-145 


6.398 


87-271 



N 



230 THE COUNTRY HOME 

ANALYSES OF VARIOUS MATERIALS USED FOR FERTILIZERS 

PERUVIAN GUANO 

Moisture at 100° C 12.17 Total Nitrogen 5.13 

Total Pliosphoric Acid 18.45 Actual Ammonia .3.94 

Soluble Phosphoric Acid 1.54 Organic Nitrogen 0.86 

Reverted Phosphoric Acid 5.92 Nitrogen as Nitric Acid 0.33 

Insoluble Phosphoric Acid 10-99 Insoluble Matter 13.64 

Potassium Oxide 3.46 

NITRATE OF SODA 

Nitrate of Soda is mined in Chile and purified there before shipment. It 
usually contains about 16 per cent of nitrogen, equivalent to 97 per cent of pure 
Nitrate of Soda. It contains, besides, a little salt and some moisture. 

Moisture 35 Sulphate of Soda 0.21 

Salt (Sodium Chloride) 23 Pure Nitrate of Soda 99-21 

MURIATE OF POTASH (tWO SAMPLES) 

Commercial Muriate of Potash consists of about 80 per cent of Muriate of 
Potash (Potassium Chloride) ; 15 per cent or more of common Salt (Sodium 
Chloride) and 4 per cent or more of Water. 

No. I. No. 2. 

Actual Potash 50.0 52.82 

Equivalent Muriate 79.2 83.70 

GORMAN POTASH SALTS — AVERAGE OF II ANALYSES 

Moisture at 100° C 1314 Magnesium Oxide 9.25 

Potassium Oxide 21.63 Sulphuric Acid 10.85 

Sodium Oxide 13.76 Clilorine 3563 

Calcium Oxide 0.85 Insoluble Matter 2.08 

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES USED IN THE UNITED STATES 

LONG MEASURE MARINERS' MEASURE 
12 inches = i foot — 6 feet = i fathom 
3 feet =r I yard — 36 inches 120 fathoms = i cable length 
SVz yards = 1 rod — 16^ feet 7] 2 cable lengths = i mile 
40 rods ^= I furlong — 660 feet 5.280 feet = i statute mile 
8 furlongs = i mile — 5.280 feet 6,085 feet = i nautical mile 
3 nautical miles = i marine league 



APPENDIX 



231 



LIQUID MEASURE 



4 gills 

2 pints 

4 quarts 

31^ gallons 

2 barrels 



= I pint 
1= I quart 
^ I gallon 
= I barrel 
= I hogshead 



SQUARE MEASURE 
square inches =: i square foot 



144 

9 square feet 

3oJ4 square yards 

160 square rods 
040 acres 

,?(i square miles 



=: I square yard 
= I square rod 
=: I acre 

=z I square mile 
=1 I township 



CUBIC MEASURE 



1,728 cubic inches 

27 cubic feet 

128 cubic feet 



I cubic foot 
I cubic yard 
I cord of wood or stone 



I gallon contains 231 cubic inches 
I bushel contains 2,150.4 cubic inches 
A cord of wood is 8 ft. long, 4 ft. wide and 
4 ft. high 



DRY MEASURE 



2 pints 


= I quart 


8 quarts 


= I peck 


4 pecks 


= I bushel 



CIRCULAR MEASURE 



60 seconds 
60 minutes 
360 degrees 
I degree 



I minute 
I degree 
I circle 
60 geographic 
miles 



I geographic mile 

I degree of the equator 



1.1527 statute 

miles 
69.124 statute 

miles 



APOTHECARIES WEIGHT 



TROY WEIGHT 



20 grains 
3 scruples 
8 drams 

12 ounces 



= I scruple 

=: I dram 

= I ounce 

= I pound 



24 grains 

20 pennyweights 

12 ounces 



= I pennyweight 
= I ounce 
= I pound 



AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT 



TIME MEASURE 



27 11-32 grains 

16 drams 

16 ounces 
2,000 pounds 
2,240 pounds 



I dram 
I ounce 
I pound 
I short ton 
I long ton 



60 seconds 
60 minutes 
24 hours 
365 days 
100 years 



=z I minute 

= I hour 

= I day 

= I year 

= I century 



232 



THE COUNTRY HOME 



stationers' table 



24 sheets 
20 quires 
2 reams 
5 bundles 



= I quire 
= I ream 
= I bundle 
= I bale 



COUNTING 

12 things = I dozen 

12 dozen = i gross 

12 gross = I great gross 

20 things =: I score 



CLOTH MEASURE 



2% inches 
4 nails 
4 quarters 



= I nail 
= I quarter 
= I yard 



SURVEYORS MEASURE 



7.92 inches 
25 links 

4 rods 
10 square 



= I link 

= I rod 

= I chain 

chains := i acre 



MISCELLANEOUS 



3 


inches 


= I palm 


4 


inches 


= I hand 


6 


inches 


= I span 


18 


inches 


= I cubit 


21.8 


inches 


= I bible cubit 


2/2 


feet 


= I military pace 



SPRAYING CALENDAR 



VEGETABLES — BEAN 



TIME TO SPRAY 


REMEDY 


DISEASE OR 
INSECT 


When 2 or 3 inches high and at 
lo-day intervals until pods set. 


Bordeaux. 


Anthracnose. 



CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER 



I. When worms first appear, but 
not after heading begins. 


Arsenate of Lead. (After head- 
ing begins apply powdered helle- 
bore.) 


Cabbage worm. 


2. When worms appear. 


Poisoned mash. 


Cutworms. ..;" : 


3. Wlien lice appear. 


Nickoteen or kerosene emulsion. 


Lice. 



APPENDIX 



233 



CELERY 



TIME TO SPRAY 


REMEDY 


DISEASE OR 
INSECT 


I. As soon as plants become es- 
tablished, every 2 weeks until 
half grown. 


Bordeaux. 


Blight. 


2. When half grown and after. 


Ammonical copper carbonate. 


Blight. 





CUCUMBERS, 


MELONS, SQUASHES AND PUMPKINS 


I. 


Begin when plants are small 


Weak Bordeaux; 2 ounces copper 


Mildew and other fun- 




and continue at intervals of 


sulphate, 3 ounces lime to 3 gal- 


gi, and striped cu- 




2 weeks. 


lons of water. 


cumber beetle. (Acts 
as repellant to lat- 
ter.) 


2. 


As soon as beetle appears. 


Sprinkle with powdered tobacco 


Striped cucumber 






or air-slaked lime, or place 


beetle. 






frame covered with a fine net- 








ting over the plants. 




3- 


Carefully watch and as soon as 
lice appear. 


Nickoteen. 


Melon lice. 



PEAS 



When worms appear. 



Poisoned bran mash. 



Cutworms. 



POTATOES 



1. Before planting. 



2. When plants are 6 inches high 
and at intervals of 10 days to 
2 weeks until growth stops. 



Soak seed in formalin solution. 



Strong Bordeaux with strong 
arsenate of lead mixed, slug 
shot or bug death. 



Scab and dry rot. 



Potato beetle and other 
insects, late and early 
blight. 



TOMATOES 



I. Before plants are taken from 
seed bed. 


Bordeaux. 


Rot and blight. 


2. Five or six days after trans- 
planting. 


Bordeaux. 


Rot and blight. 


3. Repeat No. i every 10 days or 
2 weeks if necessary. 


Bordeaux. 


Rot and blight. 


4. When worms appear. 


Poisoned mash, paper collars. 


Cutworms. 



234 



THE COUNTRY HOME 



ORCHARD FRUITS — APPLES 



TIME TO SPRAY 


REMEDY 


DISEASE OR 
INSECT 


1. In spring before leaf buds open. 


Winter-strength, lime sulphur. 


San Jose and other 
scales, blister mite. 


2. When leaves begin to come out 
but before blossoms open. 


Bordeaux, 3-3-50, or summer- 
strength lime sulphur. Add 3 
pounds of arsenate of lead to 
50 gallons. 


Scab and leaf spot. 
Curculio and various 
leaf-eating caterpil- 
lars. 


3. Immediately after blossoms 
have fallen, before calyx cups 
close. 


Summer-strength lime sulphur. 
Add 2i/4 pounds of arsenate of 
lead to 50 gallons. 


Scab, leaf spot, sooty 
fungus, plant lice, 
codling moth, Cur- 
culio. 


4. Three weeks after blossoms 
have fallen. 


Same as No. 3. 


Same as No. 3. 


5. Eight or nine weeks after No. 4. 


Bordeaux, 3-3-50. Add 216. pounds 
of arsenate of lead to 50 gal- 
lons. 


Bitter rot, blotch* 
second spread of 
scab. Fall caterpil- 
lars, second brood of 
codling moth. 



PEACHES, NECTARINES AND APRICOTS 



I. Before leaf buds swell. 


Winter-strength lime sulphur. 


San Jose scale, leaf 
curl, brown rot. 


2. When calyx tubes have fallen. 


Make milk of lime with 2 pounds 
lump lime to 50 gallons of 
water. Add 2 pounds of arse- 
nate of lead. 


Curculio. 


3. Two weeks after calyx tubes 
have fallen. 


Self-boiled lime sulphur and arse- 
nate of lead mixed. 


Curculio, scab and 
brown rot. 


4. One month before fruit ripens. 


Self-boiled lime sulphur. 


Scab and brown rot. 



PEARS 



Same as for apple. 



Use Bordeaux rather than sum- 
mer-strength lime sulphur. 



Fungus and insect 
troubles like those of 
apple. 



APPENDIX 



235 



PLUMS 



TIME TO SPRAY 


REMEDY 


DISEASE OR 

INSECT 


I. In spring before growth starts. 


Winter- strength lime sulphur. 


San Jose scale. 


2. Just before blossoms open. 


Bordeaux, 3-3-50, or summer- 
strength lime sulphur on Euro- 
pean or domestic varieties. Self- 
boiled lime sulphur on Japanese 
varieties. Add 2 pounds of 
arsenate of lead to 50 gallons. 


Brown rot. 
Curculio. 


3. As soon as shocks fall, after 
blooming. 


Same as No. 2. Jar trees. 


Brown rot, leaf spot 
and Curculio. 


4. Two to three weeks after No. 3. 


Same as No. 3. 


Same as No. 3. 


5. When fruit is ripening. 


Ammonical copper carbonate. 


Brown rot. 



CHERRIES 



I. Just before blossoms open. 



2. As soon as blossoms fall. 



3. Two to three weeks after No. 2. 



4. .After fruit is picked. 



Bordeaux, 3-3-50, or summer- 
strength lime sulphur. Add 2 
pounds of arsenate of lead to 
SO gallons. 



Self-boiled lime sulphur. Add 2 
pounds of arsenate of lead to 
50 gallons. 



Self-boiled lime sulphur. Am- 
monicated copper carbonate. 



Bordeaux, 3-3-50. Add 2 pounds 
of arsenate of lead to 50 gal- 
lons. 



Fruit rot. Curculio. 



Fruit rot. Curculio. 



Fruit rot. Curculio. 



Leaf spot. Slugs. 



FLOWERS — ROSES 



I. W^hen bugs appear. 



2. When bugs appear. 



Arsenate of lead, hellebore or 
hand pick. 



Rose chafer and shig. 



Nickoteen or kerosene emulsion. Leaf liopper and lice. 



236 



THE COUNTRY HOME 



{ 

^ 



ASTERS 



TIME TO SPRAY 



When plants are a few inches high 
and at intervals of 2 weeks. 



REMEDY 



Ammonical copper carbonate on 
the under surface of the leaves. 



DISEASE OR 
INSECT 



Leaf rust. 



¥ 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



Begin when small and every 10 
days or 2 weeks after. 



Ammonical copper carbonate. 



Leaf spot. 



--V 



TV A 



\ 



/ 



> 



'^. ^^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




ODDESabSOflE 




